Sir Patrick Stewart's Shakespearean Approach To Jean-Luc Picard | Conan O'Brien Needs A Friend

What I love most is that every member of the main cast of TNG are not only great friends, they hang out all the time. They are truly a crew, and thank goodness for that.

The "thank you" said by Sir Patrick Stewart at the end of the clip is very genuine.

"I mustn't leave anybody out!" Leaves out Wil Wheaton

Captain Picard taught ten-year-old me about being a good leader, a good friend, and a good person. Here's a character who shoulders immense responsibility, the lives of hundreds of his crew, and he tackles problems by weighing options, using logic, and considering the expert opinions of his advisors, without making impossible demands of them. Work the problem with your team, don't just expect others to fix it. And he questioned authority when he thought they were wrong. And he cared about the life forms who did not enjoy all of the advantages he was given by the technology and might of Star Fleet. That's a leader. He interacted with his crew and other life forms with patience, he actively listened, he had immense empathy. He gave advice freely, offering his wisdom and experience to those who asked, even if he didn't always get it right, his words always came from a place of selflessness and genuine support. That's a good friend. And he was always a curious person. Even at his age, he was still excited to learn, to grow, to expand his own knowledge, and the growth of his crew, whether it's young Wesley, or ever-growing Data, he taught them that being smart wasn't everything, that being human was more than knowledge, it was giving to others, keeping an open mind, a strong but gentle heart, and empathy for those different from yourself. That's a good person. I took those lessons to heart, and even now, 30 years later, I still think back fondly on his words and actions. Was it just a TV show? Of course. But it taught this kid to be curious, be patient, have empathy for everyone, especially those who are different, and to try my hardest but never take things too seriously. Thanks, Captain Picard. Thank you, Sir Patrick.

That was a heart warming "Thank you" at the end there. Good talk. A lot of us could benefit from "unclenching" in our lives. I find it difficult to do, with anxiety constantly screaming in the back of my head, to clench for control.

I've worked on sets where all the actors goof off endlessly and it DOES slow things down and it DOES, at times, aggravate the crew. But usually it is a complete blast.

Patrick Stewart's Captain Picard will always be my captain of the Enterprise - yes, everyone gets misty eyed, rose tinted specs of Shatner's Kirk - but for me, Patrick's Jean-Luc Picard just surpassed Shatner's James T Kirk by miles in terms of acting and performance. He will always be my captain.

Conan always turns into a 1920's radio presenter when he does the commercial bits. :)

Actors like Stewart, Kate Mulgrew from Star Trek Voyager and Avery Brooks from Star Trek Deep Space Nine show why you should always hire stage actors for roles like that. Premier examples of their craft.

Love Stewart's humility & how he approaches different roles. He really felt like a captain in the show - a father-figure, teacher, mentor & disciplinarian while being respectful of everyone. Plus I love his & McKellen's relationship after the X-Men movies, it's like Sir Patrick has the Midas touch of bringing joy to everyone he meets.

Patrick Stewart really should have won an Emmy for his body of work on Star Trek. Some of it is genuinely brilliant.

The TNG Picard is just legendary. His speeches are amazing.

As I recall from the way other Star Trek cast members have told it, the other half of the "too much fun" story is that by the time he had sufficiently loosened up, he became the most notorious cut-up on the set! 😆

1:50 – "I haven't told it to many people." ...Patrick isn't aware of how legendary this story has become over the years. The rest of the cast has relayed it in many convention videos I've watched that have millions of views.

Conan was beautifully genuine here

He’s the captain of my generation

Love the way Patrick looks & engages all the podcast team 😊

Conan is an adept, incisive interviewer and does so in a very patient, gentle way.

THERE ARE 4 LIGHTS!!!!!

I LOVE Patrick Stewart. I remember we would talk about who we would want in a live action X-men movie back then and we said Patrick Stewart as Xavier and we were SO happy he got the role. The next thing we hoped for is Patrick Stewart as Mr. Freeze in a Batman movie. That never happened. Now I want to see him in comedies. He's great in Family Guy and in American Dad.