...Stewart also discussed taking on a more hands-on role behind the scenes than he’d previously held on his prior Star Trek: The Next Generation series and films. “I was involved up to here,” he said. “I had, for the first time, an executive co-producer title attached to my name, and I was consulted. People were very, very generous and we talked about everything.”
Ultimately, the actor helped chart an unexpected course for the role that would inform three seasons of the Paramount+ streaming series that would challenge both the character and himself. “Picard had to face a reality about his childhood and his home life and his parents that he had never ever faced before. Why? Because he was afraid, and an afraid Jean-Luc is a pretty rare creature, but to have that undercurrent of unexpected emotion running through Season 2, and coming to a climax of course in Season 3, was very satisfying.”
Stewart also revealed that shooting Season 3 immediately following Season 2, he’d already shared scenes with his longtime TNG cast mates, who were recently revealed to be joining him in the forthcoming final season.
“I’m with Gates [McFadden] and Marina [Sirtis] and Jonathan [Frakes] and Brent [Spiner] and LeVar [Burton] and Michael [Dorn], and those days have been wonderful,” he reported. “I think it’s hard for the directors because we fool about so much! And it was always like that – I mean, you’ve probably heard that famous thing that I said it during our first season when somebody said, ‘Patrick, we’ve got to have some fun,’ because I was complaining about the disruptions and the noise, and I said ‘We are not here to have fun!’”...
