How Patrick Stewart’s experience on Logan inspired him to return to Star Trek

In January of 2020, Patrick Stewart will reprise his role as Jean-Luc Picard in the CBS All Access show Star Trek: Picard. It’s been 20 years since the destruction of Romulus, Picard is an aging owner of a vineyard and he’s got a dog named Number One. He’s sad about the death of his robot pal Data. When a mysterious woman seeks him out and asks for his help, he throws himself back into the thick of things.

Speaking at the recent Destination Star Trek convention, Stewart described what brought him back to the final frontier.

"I had absolutely no intention of returning to Star Trek. [I was] very proud of the seven seasons of Next Generation and of the four movies that were made. But… I had resisted numerous invitations to bring it all back to life again. So when this offer came from CBS, I agreed to attend the meeting. But for one reason only — I had great respect for the people who were calling me in to see them about reviving Jean Luc and Star Trek. And I wanted as politely and sensitively as possible to tell them why I was going to turn the offer down. They listened to me talk for 20 minutes or more while I explained to them all the reasons behind my saying no."

And say no he did. But then producers Alex Kurtzman and Akiva Goldsman asked Stewart if they could talk about some things that interested him. He obliged, and by the time they were done talking, he was intrigued. “I said to my agent who was with me at the meeting, ‘Could you ask them if they could put all of that into writing so that I can study their ideas and their plans for reviving this character and this world?’ A couple of days later, I got 35 pages of single-spaced writing, and I was fascinated by it.”

In fact, Stewart was so impressed with the pair’s ideas that he wanted another meeting. “I asked to meet them all again and at the second meeting, I had specific terms and conditions that I said would allow me to think about reviving this world. Much of it was about what the world would be that you were going back to.”

"I referenced X-Men and particularly the final movie that Hugh Jackman and myself did, Logan, as [to] what I had in mind. Logan was nothing like any of the other X-Men movies that had come before. It was very, very different. The world had changed. And so, I challenged Alex Kurtzman and Akiva Goldsman to come up with ideas for a completely different world than the one that we had known 17 or 18 years earlier."

In Logan, Stewart’s character — Professor Xavier — dies. Does that mean he would only agree to do Picard if the showrunners agreed to kill him off in the finale? That’s unclear, but for the nonce, he seems happy with how things turned out.

"[Star Trek: Picard is] better than being a return to Jean Luc, a return to the franchise. It felt like a brand new project. And I was fascinated because, in those 18 years, Picard had grown older and Patrick, myself, had grown older. My life, in many respects, is very different. And I felt if we could bring all of those elements into a new series about Picard then I would be content. And this is the end result of that."

Original Next Generation cast members confirmed to be returning include Jonathan Frakes (William Riker) and Marina Sirtis (Deanna Troi). Jeri Ryan (Seven of Nine from Star Trek: Voyager) will also be part of the show.

Nov. 2, 2015 – CBS Television Studios announced today it will launch a totally new “Star Trek” television series in January 2017. The brand-new “Star Trek” will introduce new characters seeking imaginative new worlds and new civilizations, while exploring the dramatic contemporary themes that have been a signature of the franchise since its inception in 1966. The new series will blast off with a special preview broadcast on the CBS Television Network. The premiere episode and all subsequent first-run episodes will then be available exclusively in the United States on CBS All Access, the Network’s digital subscription video on demand and live streaming service.

Pictured: Brent Spiner as Lt. Commander Data in STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION.

Screen grab: ©1988 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved

Brent Spiner is also returning as Data, who died in Star Trek: Nemesis. He recalled getting the fateful phone call. “I assumed they wanted me to play Picard because I can,” he joked. “I’ve gotten younger, I’ll last longer. So they said, ‘Well, would you have any interest in playing Data again?’ And I said, ‘Make me an offer I can’t refuse.’”

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Looks like they did. Star Trek: Picard makes its CBS All Access debut on January 23, 2020.

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