In a word, humility.
That’s how Stratford’s Craig Thompson says he will remember the late Patrick Stewart.
“He wanted to know everybody’s name, where they were from, what their roles were, treated everyone the same and in fact, we had a catered lunch from one of his local favourite pubs and he helped us in the kitchen washing up the dishes afterwards.”
Stewart, best known for playing captain Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek: The Next Generation and Professor X in the X-Men film franchise, died Oct. 28, age 86.
The president of Ballinran Entertaintment told MyStratfordNow he worked with Stewart on two projects; The Captains and Chaos on the Bridge.
In The Captains, William Shatner went around the world interviewing all the captains of Star Trek, including Stewart, while Chaos on the Bridge focused on the making of Star Trek: The Next Generation.
“Bill Shatner often spoke about how he was typecast as Captain Kirk and here is this Shakespearean actor (Stewart) much like Bill, and Patrick said ‘it doesn’t really matter, embrace the role because it’s very Shakespearean in its story, arc and themes.”
Thompson noted that Stewart never thought the TV show would succeed, adding it surprised him.
He also remembers Stewart for his commitment to raising awareness on domestic violence.
“He grew up in an abusive household witnessing domestic violence and for him, the theatre and Shakespeare was his escape. He really committed his life outside of his role on screen to raising awareness of domestic violence, he was a true, compassionate human being through and through.”
He added that he reached out to Stewart, asking if he could perform at the Avon Theatre before COVID came and halted those plans.
