JANUARY 18, 2021 - It seems Sir Patrick Stewart was as broken up by that scene in Star Trek: Picard as you were. In a new interview with Gold Derby last week, he recounted what it was about his character’s relationship with Data that resounded with both him and the audience, and he also revealed that he took a little piece of the scene home with him.

In the wide-ranging interview, which covered Shakespeare, politics, and of course, Star Trek, interviewer Tom O’Neill asked Stewart why Jean-Luc Picard cares so deeply about his relationship with Data. Stewart credited Data’s unresolved passion for trying to understand human- and alien-kind, saying, “His curiosity about that and his hunger to give it to himself is so effective and empowering.”

Stewart then went on to describe the pivotal Picard scene from the finale, in which his character says goodbye to Data one last time. Calling it one of his “happiest days on the film set”, Stewart recounted that it was almost, at times, overwhelming. “For several takes,” he said, “I couldn’t say [goodbye], couldn’t get the words out. I felt so emotional.”

Apparently, the scene and the experience made enough of an impact on Stewart that he wanted to remember it: “There is a chair on the far side of my study,” he said. “Beautiful leather chair, which is the chair that I was sitting in in that scene. The studio sold it to me.”

Not to worry though, if the studio needs the chair back, Stewart implied that he’d consider lending it back.

Stewart’s full interview on Gold Derby runs for 40 minutes of pure delight. And when you’re done with that, you can relive the entire Star Trek: Picard experience on CBS All Access; the entirety of season one, plus the prequel Short Treks episode “Children of Mars” are now streaming.