Sir Patrick Stewart tells drama actors’ roundtable about getting starstruck meeting a former Romanian gymnast

Sir Patrick Stewart as Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek: Picard

Sir Patrick Stewart participated in a roundtable discussion recently for The Hollywood Reporter. The roundtable, which was featured in the magazine’s June 10th print issue, brought together a group of drama actors for a casual discussion ranging across a number of topics. Along with Stewart, the roundtable was made up of Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Kieran Culkin, Daveed Diggs, Tobias Menzies and Bob Odenkirk.

The inevitable topic of Star Trek: Picard came up, and Stewart reiterated for the group that he was initially skeptical of the role, but was won over by the production team with a great story. He did reflect, however, on the difficulty he’s had in his career of overcoming being seen as just Jean-Luc Picard. “There was a supporting role [many years ago] that I was really eager to have a go at,” he said. But when Stewart finally met the director, the director said to him “Patrick, why would I want Jean-Luc Picard in my movie?” Stewart said that the moment had a bad impact on him “for a long time afterward”.

Later in the discussion, conversation turned to the actors’ starstruck moments. Odenkirk, Diggs and Culkin led with being starstruck by Stewart. But for Stewart himself, a recent starstruck moment came when he met a famous Romanian gymnast (whose name he couldn’t recall during the discussion). He told the story: “I’m at an event, and a woman came up to me and asked if she could take a selfie [...] she was a Romanian gymnast whom I saw competing in the Olympic games, maybe 25 or 30 years ago. And I was speechless with excitement.”

For the full discussion, including Stewart’s take on what Gene Roddenberry really thought of him, you can read the transcript at hollywoodreporter.com, or pick up the June 10th edition of the magazine, available now.