Patrick Stewart is returning to the small screen as Jean-Luc Picard! The upcoming Picard series will follow the beloved character from Star Trek: The Next Generation, and thanks to a recent Entertainment Weekly interview with the series’ Executive producer, Alex Kurtzman, and showrunner, Michael Chabon, we have more insight into the series. The creators have teased lots of exciting things for the upcoming show, including Stewart’s dynamite performance.
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“Stewart as Picard is better than you’ve ever seen him,” EW teased.
“The quality of Patrick’s acting, if anything, has gotten even better over time and he was already a master,” Chabon shared. “He has an ability to hold you riveted even when he’s just sitting and listening.”
“Naturally. Picard is always at his best when he looks โฆ engaged,” EW joked.
It’s no surprise to hear such praise for Stewart, who is known for his acting chops. In fact, we’re still a little burned by that fact that he wasn’t nominated for an Oscar for his performance in Logan. However, throughout his career, he’s been nominated for four Emmys and three Golden Globes as well as various other awards.
In a previous interview, Kurtzman talked more about working with Stewart:
“We spent a lot of time with Patrick, and you know what? He’s incredibly brilliant just as a human, and very warm, and obviously he knows Jean-Luc Picard better than anybody โ and you know, he was really the one who from the outset said, ‘I don’t want to do this unless we’re breaking new ground. I don’t want to just play the character I played, why come back to that? We did that already,”
In addition to talking up Stewart, the EW interview also addressed whether or not any of the other actors from TNG would be popping up in the new show.
“What we don’t want to do is just throw in cameos,” Kurtzman explained. “There would have to be an incredibly specific story reason [for them to be there].”
While no cameos have been confirmed, TNG star Jonathan Frakes (Riker) will be directing two episodes of the series, which also stars Alison Pill, Michelle Hurd, Evan Evagora, Isa Briones, Santiago Cabrera, and Harry Treadaway.
Are you excited to see Stewart step back into the role of Picard? Tell us in the comments!
Star Trek: Picard is expected to debut on CBS All Access later this year