How Patrick Stewart Learned To Loosen Up On The Set Of Star Trek: The Next Generation
by Witney Seibold · /FilmAdd SlashFilm on Google:
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Prior to his gig on "Star Trek: The Next Generation," the late, great Patrick Stewart was a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company from 1966 to 1982. He was classically trained and took his craft very seriously, digging into his many Shakespearean roles.
He was so serious that he recalled being incredibly put off by the casual, whimsical attitudes of his "Star Trek: The Next Generation" co-stars in the early days of the series. Stewart recalls calling a meeting with the "NextGen" cast, back during the filming of the show's first season, specifically to admonish them for not taking their jobs seriously enough. His co-star Denise Crosby, he recalled, said to him, 'We've got to have some fun sometimes, Patrick." He spat back, "We are not here, Denise, to have fun." He then stormed off the set.
Luckily, Stewart's other co-stars Jonathan Frakes and Brent Spiner thought to follow him and have a warm, friendly chat about, well, loosening up on set a little. After that, Stewart made a concerted effort to relax. He needed to explode before he could unwind and loosen up a little.
Stewart has told this story numerous times, having talked about it with CBS News in 2020, and then writing it again in his 2023 memoir "Making It So," a memoir that has been widely quoted by The Hollywood Reporter. In "Making It So," Stewart admitted that he was embarrassed by this meeting, and recalled the conversation in more detail. He even recalled that when he exploded, declaring that acting isn't fun, the cast kind of chuckled at him, which was something he hated at the time. Luckily, Spiner and Frakes were there to talk him down.
We're not here, Denise, to have fun!
In Patrick Stewart's own words, he admitted:
"I could be a severe b*stard. [...] My experiences at the Royal Shakespeare Company and the National Theatre had been intense and serious ... On the TNG set, I grew angry with the conduct of my peers, and that's when I called that meeting in which I lectured the cast for goofing off and responded to Denise Crosby's, 'We've got to have some fun sometimes, Patrick' comment by saying, 'We are not here, Denise, to have fun.'"
Stewart admitted that he finds his miniature tantrum amusing in retrospect, but at the time, he was genuinely upset. When "the cast erupted in hysterics at my pompous declaration," he confessed, "I didn't handle it well." He angrily left the set and slammed the door to his trailer. Luckily, Brent Spiner and Jonathan Frakes followed.
The conversation that then took place seemed to be like something that might happen on an episode of "Star Trek: The Next Generation," where two parties confess to wrongdoing and a diplomatic solution is proposed. The hard truth Stewart had to hear came from Spiner, who said, "People respect you. [...] But I think you misjudged the situation here."
Stewart embarrassedly admitted that he, although having worked with countless actors in the past, had failed to "read the room" this time. It seems that gathering the cast together to admonish them for being too goofy was not the way to get on their good side. Stewart already knew that Spiner was able to react with good humor to most situations, even eventually coming to own a fun prank sign that Spiner once pasted to his trailer. The sign read "Beware: Unknown British Shakespearean Actor," in reference to an early write-up of "Next Generation" in a local entertainment rag.
Brent Spiner and Jonathan Frakes convinced Patrick Stewart to relax a little on the set of Star Trek: The Next Generation
It turns out that Patrick Stewart was not 100% in the wrong, however, and wrote that there was a little give-and-take that had to take place. He continued:
"[Brent] and Jonathan acknowledged that yes, there was too much goofing around and that it needed to be dialed back. But they also made it clear how off-putting it was — and not a case study in good leadership — for me to try to resolve the matter by lecturing and scolding the cast. I had failed to read the room, imposing RSC behavior on people accustomed to the ways of episodic television — which was, after all, what we were shooting."
Stewart hadn't been a regular on any American TV series prior to "Star Trek: The Next Generation," having appeared only in single episodes of various programs and in some TV movies, and had supporting roles in a few miniseries. The world of fast-paced, high-volume U.S. television was kind of an alien world to him at the time. As such, he didn't quite know what the general code of conduct was to be. Luckily, Brent Spiner and Jonathan Frakes were egalitarian enough to reach an agreement. The cast would goof off less, and Stewart would relax more.
It seems to have worked, as Stewart, Frakes, Spiner, and most of the other people in the room appeared on "Star Trek: The Next Generation" for seven seasons, appeared in four movies together, and reunited for the third season of "Star Trek: Picard." By then, filming was a warm event, and the cast was allowed to hang out and improvise for 45 minutes. Stewart had definitely learned to loosen up.