Star Trek: Alex Kurtzman Reflects on Introducing Patrick Stewart's Return

Last summer, Alex Kurtzman made a surprise appearance at the Star Trek Las Vegas convention. He introduced another surprise guest, Star Trek: The Next Generation star Patrick Stewart. Stewart went on to announce his return to the role of Jean-Luc Picard in a new Star Trek series on CBS All Access.

Kurtzman, who is the co-creator and showrunner of Star Trek: Discovery and charged with overseeing the expansion of the Star Trek television franchise, recently reflected on that huge moment.

"Oh my god! So amazing," Kurtzman told the official Star Trek website. "Obviously, Patrick's gone on record as saying he could never play that part again. Getting him to say yes was its own amazing thing because Patrick is incredibly brilliant and motivated from a place of real heart and love. And what Patrick understood, so deeply, over so many years is how much Picard influenced people's lives, and how of all the captains in the world of Trek, in many ways he was the one who was the biggest beacon for people. In some ways, even more than Kirk. It was a very emotional thing for all of us to engage with each other because, as he should have felt, Patrick needed to make sure we were coming from the right place, and that we wanted to protect what Next Gen means to so many people, and what his character, specifically, means to so many people. And that was really about several conversations of back and forth and exploring his instincts, our instincts. I think, ultimately, our job was to make him feel comfortable and safe and to protect the show and shield it from anything that would break it in the wrong way.

"Patrick tweeted his picture in the room," Kurtzman continued. "It's no joke. He was there for two weeks at the beginning of the experience, sitting with the writers, and everybody was talking together about what they wanted this show to be. And that's very special. Patrick will send us beautifully written emails about what he feels about Picard, and where he feels Picard has been, and that's no inspirational. So, getting to walk out on stage... I mean, to be honest with you, I still don't know how I became this guy who's doing this with everybody. But to be able to walk out on stage with him and introduce him as a friend who is actually stepping back into the role he said he would never do again, to the delight of so many people… I was standing there. I saw people crying in the theater. It was incredible.

"It was such an amazing moment, and I think it was a, truly, once in a lifetime moment because you only get to announce his return after 20 plus years one time. And he spoke so from the heart...He was crying. It was an unrehearsed speech. I think he had lots of feelings but didn't quite know how it was going to be expressed until he stepped onto the stage, and he spoke so beautifully. And to be able to stand behind him in that moment was a gift for me."

Are you excited about Patrick Stewart's return as Jean-Luc Picard? Let us know in the comments.

The new Picard series is expected to debut on CBS All Access in late 2019.