Stewart Calls His Trek Years A 'Calamity'

Patrick Stewart described being cast on Star Trek: The Next Generation as a "calamity" that disrupted his theatrical career.

In 1986, Stewart told The Stage, he left a production of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? to accept the role of Captain Picard on the Star Trek sequel series. "I was a different actor...finally being able to make truth of an emotional commitment to a role like that in such a small, exposing theatre," Stewart said. "The calamity that then happened to me was that I was offered Star Trek: The Next Generation.

Though Stewart added that he was "immensely grateful" for some of the positive changes that the series brought, he also said that he has "worked hard not in any sense to feel they were wasted years — though time is a factor in all of this, and I now have a lot of catching up to do."

"There are things I might have done and I’ve got to do a lot of them quickly now," Stewart explained.

YouTube also has footage of a Stewart interview with Lauren Lavern from The Culture Show. Stewart will appear in The Tempest at the Novello Theatre beginning on February 22nd.

In addition, GameZone reported that Stewart will perform the voiceover for TV commercials in the UK and Australia for Final Fantasy XII. The European marketing director said that the company wanted "an incredible voice" to match the stellar visual effects, saying that Stewart was the first and only choice for the role.

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