WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.160 Imagine, right, a classically trained Shakespearean 00:00:03.160 --> 00:00:05.599 actor. Oh, yeah. Like, absolute top of the field. 00:00:05.860 --> 00:00:08.960 Exactly. A guy who is totally accustomed to the 00:00:08.960 --> 00:00:12.460 most prestigious, you know, reverent stages in 00:00:12.460 --> 00:00:15.189 London. Where the text is... practically sacred. 00:00:15.390 --> 00:00:17.989 Right, and the atmosphere is intensely intensely 00:00:17.989 --> 00:00:20.989 focused, but now picture that exact same man 00:00:20.989 --> 00:00:24.309 waking up at like 4 .45 in the morning in Hollywood. 00:00:24.469 --> 00:00:27.329 Oh man! Yeah, strapping himself into this tight 00:00:27.329 --> 00:00:30.309 spandex uniform and literally screaming at his 00:00:30.309 --> 00:00:33.130 American castmates because, well, because they're 00:00:33.130 --> 00:00:35.460 just having too much fun on set. It is such a 00:00:35.460 --> 00:00:37.920 phenomenal image. I mean, it just perfectly captures 00:00:37.920 --> 00:00:40.399 that intense friction that really defined the 00:00:40.399 --> 00:00:42.560 middle of his life. It totally does. And that 00:00:42.560 --> 00:00:45.460 is the core of our deep dive today. So we are 00:00:45.460 --> 00:00:49.100 exploring a single, just incredibly dense source, 00:00:49.479 --> 00:00:51.899 which is the extensive Wikipedia page of Sir 00:00:51.899 --> 00:00:54.460 Patrick Stewart. Massively detailed source, I 00:00:54.460 --> 00:00:56.619 might add. Oh, incredibly. And our mission today 00:00:56.619 --> 00:00:59.320 is to understand the absolute paradox of this 00:00:59.320 --> 00:01:01.119 man, because we're talking about someone who 00:01:01.119 --> 00:01:03.759 viewed television science fiction as well. basically 00:01:03.759 --> 00:01:06.040 entirely beneath his dignity. Yeah, completely 00:01:06.040 --> 00:01:08.379 beneath him. But then he somehow becomes two 00:01:08.379 --> 00:01:11.379 of the most iconic, morally -centered pop culture 00:01:11.379 --> 00:01:14.120 leaders in history. It really is a massive pivot. 00:01:14.359 --> 00:01:16.480 Right. And more than that, we're going to explore 00:01:16.480 --> 00:01:19.900 how a genuinely harrowing childhood actually 00:01:19.900 --> 00:01:23.560 forged this highly nuanced, fiercely empathetic, 00:01:23.900 --> 00:01:27.260 real -world activist. So, okay, let's unpack 00:01:27.260 --> 00:01:29.620 this. To really understand that paradox? Yeah. 00:01:29.819 --> 00:01:31.900 You know, you kind of have to visualize the backdrop 00:01:31.900 --> 00:01:33.980 of his life. Okay, paint the picture for me. 00:01:34.120 --> 00:01:35.939 Well, if we were projecting this on a screen 00:01:35.939 --> 00:01:38.140 for you, we wouldn't start in Hollywood. Right. 00:01:38.260 --> 00:01:40.400 And we definitely wouldn't start on the bridge 00:01:40.400 --> 00:01:42.540 of a starship. Right. We'd actually start in 00:01:42.540 --> 00:01:46.019 this dusty gray Yorkshire factory town back in 00:01:46.019 --> 00:01:49.959 the 1940s. Oh, wow. Yeah. And then... You'd watch 00:01:49.959 --> 00:01:52.859 that grim industrial landscape slowly morph into 00:01:52.859 --> 00:01:55.280 the sleek, brightly lit bridge of the enterprise. 00:01:55.420 --> 00:01:57.959 Quite the transition. It is. And finally, that 00:01:57.959 --> 00:02:00.180 futuristic bridge would dissolve and would just 00:02:00.180 --> 00:02:02.400 leave us standing on the raw wooden floorboards 00:02:02.400 --> 00:02:05.180 of a classic theater stage. I love that visual. 00:02:05.420 --> 00:02:07.879 And we really do have to begin in that gray Yorkshire 00:02:07.879 --> 00:02:10.680 town of Muirfield. Because before he was exploring 00:02:10.680 --> 00:02:13.680 the stars or, you know, leading a school of mutants, 00:02:14.099 --> 00:02:16.620 Patrick Stewart was just a kid trying to survive. 00:02:16.819 --> 00:02:19.060 Yeah. And the contrast there is stark. I mean, 00:02:19.219 --> 00:02:22.840 between his later public persona of this absolute 00:02:22.840 --> 00:02:24.620 calm authority. Which is what everyone knows 00:02:24.620 --> 00:02:27.379 him for. Exactly. But you contrast that with 00:02:27.379 --> 00:02:31.110 his Early reality of total absolute powerlessness. 00:02:31.110 --> 00:02:33.530 He was born in 1940 into a really poor household, 00:02:33.610 --> 00:02:36.610 right? But the defining feature of his youth 00:02:36.610 --> 00:02:39.669 was just an environment of constant unpredictable 00:02:39.669 --> 00:02:41.969 fear Yeah, because his father was a World War 00:02:41.969 --> 00:02:45.110 two paratrooper, right? Yes, and he suffered 00:02:45.110 --> 00:02:47.490 from what they called at the time combat fatigue 00:02:47.490 --> 00:02:50.310 Which today we would obviously recognize a severe 00:02:50.310 --> 00:02:53.500 PTSD Right, completely. It stemmed from his experiences 00:02:53.500 --> 00:02:56.500 during the Dunkirk evacuation. And that totally 00:02:56.500 --> 00:02:59.319 unaddressed trauma manifested as severe domestic 00:02:59.319 --> 00:03:01.379 violence against Stewart's mother. Gosh, that 00:03:01.379 --> 00:03:04.180 is so heavy. It really is. So, you know, Stewart 00:03:04.180 --> 00:03:07.340 grew up in a home where he was basically perpetually 00:03:07.340 --> 00:03:09.460 bracing for the next explosion. Just constantly 00:03:09.460 --> 00:03:11.860 on edge. What's fascinating here is how that 00:03:11.860 --> 00:03:15.020 specific type of trauma functions as a tragic, 00:03:15.379 --> 00:03:17.860 but honestly incredibly potent training ground 00:03:17.860 --> 00:03:21.319 for an actor. Oh, wait, really? How so? Well, 00:03:21.400 --> 00:03:23.639 think about it. When a child lives in a home 00:03:23.639 --> 00:03:26.240 where violence could just erupt at any second, 00:03:26.539 --> 00:03:28.759 they are forced to become hyper observant. Oh, 00:03:28.759 --> 00:03:31.419 I see. Like reading the room. Exactly. You have 00:03:31.419 --> 00:03:34.340 to constantly gauge the emotional weather of 00:03:34.340 --> 00:03:37.000 the adults around you. You learn to interpret 00:03:37.000 --> 00:03:40.199 the slightest shift in tone or, you know, posture. 00:03:40.560 --> 00:03:42.520 So acting wasn't just a career choice for him 00:03:42.520 --> 00:03:45.000 later on? Not at all. It was a psychological 00:03:45.000 --> 00:03:47.000 mechanism that was forged right there in his 00:03:47.000 --> 00:03:49.490 childhood. It's like he used acting as a literal 00:03:49.490 --> 00:03:52.349 survival mechanism. Just developing this radar 00:03:52.349 --> 00:03:55.210 for human behavior just to stay safe. Precisely. 00:03:55.430 --> 00:03:57.870 And then his English teacher at his secondary 00:03:57.870 --> 00:04:00.469 school, this man named Cecil Dorman, literally 00:04:00.469 --> 00:04:03.250 hands him a copy of Shakespeare. Wow. Yeah, and 00:04:03.250 --> 00:04:05.050 he just tells him to get up and perform. That 00:04:05.050 --> 00:04:07.189 has to be a profound shift for him. Oh, it must 00:04:07.189 --> 00:04:10.000 have been. Because suddenly this hyper -observant 00:04:10.000 --> 00:04:12.520 kid is handed a script where the outcome is entirely 00:04:12.520 --> 00:04:16.199 known. Exactly. For a repressed kid coming from 00:04:16.199 --> 00:04:20.019 a violent home, stepping onto a stage and speaking 00:04:20.019 --> 00:04:22.560 the words of Shakespeare, it gives you absolute 00:04:22.560 --> 00:04:24.540 control. You know exactly what's going to happen. 00:04:24.620 --> 00:04:27.139 Right. It allows you to express these massive, 00:04:27.540 --> 00:04:31.560 explosive emotions. Rage, sorrow, triumph. But 00:04:31.560 --> 00:04:34.160 safely. Hidden behind the mask of a character. 00:04:34.360 --> 00:04:36.920 Yes. It was a crucial means of self -expression 00:04:36.920 --> 00:04:40.040 for him. So he actually leaves school at 15 to 00:04:40.040 --> 00:04:42.300 throw himself into local theater, but, I mean, 00:04:42.399 --> 00:04:44.000 he still has to eat. Right, you gotta pay the 00:04:44.000 --> 00:04:46.759 bills. And his early career hustles are just... 00:04:46.600 --> 00:04:49.399 brilliant examples of that acting instinct bleeding 00:04:49.399 --> 00:04:52.019 into his real life. Like, he gets a job as a 00:04:52.019 --> 00:04:53.959 newspaper reporter. Oh, his story's amazing. 00:04:54.120 --> 00:04:57.300 Yeah. But he keeps skipping work to attend theater 00:04:57.300 --> 00:04:59.720 rehearsals. So to cover his tracks, he would 00:04:59.720 --> 00:05:01.779 just invent the news stories he was supposed 00:05:01.779 --> 00:05:03.980 to be reporting on. He just made them up. Completely. 00:05:04.079 --> 00:05:06.600 Making up quotes, inventing events, just filing 00:05:06.600 --> 00:05:08.660 these fake stories. He was essentially playing 00:05:08.660 --> 00:05:11.279 the role of a journalist. Yeah. You know, treating 00:05:11.279 --> 00:05:14.399 the local news as an improvisational acting exercise. 00:05:15.069 --> 00:05:16.990 Exactly. Well, his boss eventually figured it 00:05:16.990 --> 00:05:19.649 out naturally and gave him an ultimatum. So Stuart 00:05:19.649 --> 00:05:21.870 chose the theater, quit the paper, and then he 00:05:21.870 --> 00:05:24.449 gets a job in a furniture store. But he didn't 00:05:24.449 --> 00:05:27.930 just sell sofas. No. He used the store to practice 00:05:27.930 --> 00:05:30.819 his acting technique. He would tailor his sales 00:05:30.819 --> 00:05:33.560 pitches, his vocabulary, his entire persona to 00:05:33.560 --> 00:05:36.399 the specific personality of each individual customer 00:05:36.399 --> 00:05:38.639 that walked through the door. That is so clever. 00:05:38.839 --> 00:05:41.139 It really is. He's like a chameleon adapting 00:05:41.139 --> 00:05:43.740 to the furniture store customers just to fund 00:05:43.740 --> 00:05:48.420 his true escape pod, which was the theater. And 00:05:48.420 --> 00:05:51.519 honestly, that sheer determination paid off. 00:05:51.689 --> 00:05:54.910 He and his famously loud, wonderful friend, Brian 00:05:54.910 --> 00:05:57.550 Blessed. Oh, I love Brian Blessed. Right. They 00:05:57.550 --> 00:06:00.009 both received grants to attend the prestigious 00:06:00.009 --> 00:06:03.329 Bristol Old Vic Theatre School. And Stuart was 00:06:03.329 --> 00:06:05.569 actually the first person who wasn't an Oxford 00:06:05.569 --> 00:06:07.949 or Cambridge graduate to get a grant for the 00:06:07.949 --> 00:06:10.709 West Riding Council. Really? The first one? Yeah. 00:06:10.870 --> 00:06:13.089 He basically clawed his way into the elite British 00:06:13.089 --> 00:06:15.350 theatre world. He joined the Royal Shakespeare 00:06:15.350 --> 00:06:18.509 Company in 1966, and he was doing Broadway by 00:06:18.509 --> 00:06:22.089 1970. He had built the exact life he wanted as 00:06:22.089 --> 00:06:25.009 a respected classical stage actor. Which honestly 00:06:25.009 --> 00:06:28.069 makes his pivot into spandex and aliens so totally 00:06:28.069 --> 00:06:30.870 baffling because he was a massive theater snob. 00:06:31.050 --> 00:06:33.990 Oh, a huge snob. He actively looked down on sci 00:06:33.990 --> 00:06:35.769 -fi. Yeah, there's that famous story where he 00:06:35.769 --> 00:06:37.810 bumped into Lala Ward. She was an actress on 00:06:37.810 --> 00:06:40.050 Doctor Who, and he actually asked her why she 00:06:40.050 --> 00:06:42.589 would ever lower herself to work in science fiction, 00:06:43.110 --> 00:06:45.370 let alone on television. I know. He had absolutely 00:06:45.370 --> 00:06:49.769 zero respect for the medium. But then, in 1987, 00:06:50.329 --> 00:06:52.490 a producer named Robert Justman was attending 00:06:52.490 --> 00:06:55.569 a literary reading at UCLA. Okay. And he watched 00:06:55.569 --> 00:06:58.550 Patrick Stewart perform and instantly, right 00:06:58.550 --> 00:07:01.230 then and there, knew he had found his Captain 00:07:01.230 --> 00:07:04.149 Picard for the revival of Star Trek. But Stewart 00:07:04.149 --> 00:07:06.569 actively resisted it. Bro, he fought it. He knew 00:07:06.569 --> 00:07:08.370 nothing about the cultural monolith that was 00:07:08.370 --> 00:07:10.029 Star Trek. I mean, the only reason he signed 00:07:10.029 --> 00:07:12.110 that standard six -year contract for Star Trek 00:07:12.110 --> 00:07:14.829 The Next Generation was because he, his agent, 00:07:14.970 --> 00:07:18.040 and his good friend Ian McKellen All firmly believed 00:07:18.040 --> 00:07:20.259 the show would be a catastrophic flop. Yeah, 00:07:20.319 --> 00:07:22.680 they were certain of it. They literally sat down 00:07:22.680 --> 00:07:25.459 and figured, OK, go to Hollywood, suffer through 00:07:25.459 --> 00:07:28.160 it for a few months, make a quick pile of cash 00:07:28.160 --> 00:07:30.639 when it inevitably gets canceled, and come right 00:07:30.639 --> 00:07:33.379 back to the London stage. It was a highly calculated 00:07:33.379 --> 00:07:36.800 risk that failed spectacularly, at least in terms 00:07:36.800 --> 00:07:38.959 of his short -term plans. Right, because the 00:07:38.959 --> 00:07:41.579 show became an unprecedented global phenomenon. 00:07:41.819 --> 00:07:44.899 Exactly. Wait, so the guy playing Captain Picard 00:07:44.899 --> 00:07:48.860 -like? The ultimate enlightened, patient, deeply 00:07:48.860 --> 00:07:53.199 empathetic space explorer was actually furious 00:07:53.199 --> 00:07:56.019 to be there. Oh, in the early days, yes. Absolutely. 00:07:56.720 --> 00:07:58.879 The culture clash was just immense. Remember, 00:07:58.980 --> 00:08:01.800 he was accustomed to the deep, rigorous discipline 00:08:01.800 --> 00:08:03.899 of the Royal Shakespeare Company. Where the text 00:08:03.899 --> 00:08:06.100 is sacred, like we said. Right, where rehearsals 00:08:06.100 --> 00:08:08.550 are solemn. And suddenly he's out in California, 00:08:09.089 --> 00:08:12.050 waking up at 4 .45 a .m., working on an episodic 00:08:12.050 --> 00:08:14.610 television schedule that just churns out pages 00:08:14.610 --> 00:08:17.269 at breakneck speed. And he despised having to 00:08:17.269 --> 00:08:19.250 memorize the technical jargon, didn't he? Oh, 00:08:19.389 --> 00:08:21.350 he hated what he called the technobabble. Though 00:08:21.350 --> 00:08:23.870 I did read he eventually admitted his favorite 00:08:23.870 --> 00:08:26.290 piece of technobabble was Space Time Continuum. 00:08:26.449 --> 00:08:29.069 Huh. Why that one? Just because he liked the 00:08:29.069 --> 00:08:33.179 rhythmic poetry of the words. Space -time continuum. 00:08:33.899 --> 00:08:36.059 I mean, it does roll off the tongue. Yeah. But 00:08:36.059 --> 00:08:39.059 the friction on that set was palpable. He was 00:08:39.059 --> 00:08:41.820 working with this American cast who dealt with 00:08:41.820 --> 00:08:45.039 a grueling schedule by, you know, joking around 00:08:45.039 --> 00:08:47.360 and relieving tension between takes. Which is 00:08:47.360 --> 00:08:50.289 pretty standard for TV. Sure. But Stuart, applying 00:08:50.289 --> 00:08:52.649 his rigid theater background, completely lost 00:08:52.649 --> 00:08:55.389 his temper. He scolded his castmates. He famously 00:08:55.389 --> 00:08:57.769 shouted at them, we're not here to have fun. 00:08:57.889 --> 00:09:00.570 Oh my gosh. I can't even imagine the dead silence 00:09:00.570 --> 00:09:03.269 on set after that. Awkward, right? So awkward. 00:09:03.409 --> 00:09:06.710 But the irony is that intense gravitas is exactly 00:09:06.710 --> 00:09:09.690 why the creator, Gene Roddenberry, eventually 00:09:09.690 --> 00:09:12.590 agreed to cast him. Because there was a lot of 00:09:12.590 --> 00:09:15.110 pushback from the studio about having a bald, 00:09:15.389 --> 00:09:18.090 middle -aged English guy lead an action show. 00:09:18.110 --> 00:09:20.279 Which makes sense. for the 80s. Yeah, a reporter 00:09:20.279 --> 00:09:22.779 even asked Roddenberry, surely they would have 00:09:22.779 --> 00:09:25.399 cured baldness by the 24th century. What did 00:09:25.399 --> 00:09:28.100 he say? Roddenberry replied, in the 24th century 00:09:28.100 --> 00:09:30.639 they wouldn't care. Oh, that's a brilliant philosophical 00:09:30.639 --> 00:09:33.879 response. It really speaks to the elevated humanity 00:09:33.879 --> 00:09:36.500 the show was trying to portray. Definitely. And 00:09:36.500 --> 00:09:39.059 to Stewart's credit, he didn't just stay angry. 00:09:39.309 --> 00:09:42.389 He adapted. He realized that the American TV 00:09:42.389 --> 00:09:45.009 acting culture wasn't disrespectful. It was just 00:09:45.009 --> 00:09:48.289 a collaborative survival technique for a genuinely 00:09:48.289 --> 00:09:50.629 grueling schedule. Right. Totally different medium. 00:09:50.809 --> 00:09:53.269 But more importantly, he actually brought his 00:09:53.269 --> 00:09:56.350 RSC discipline to those sci -fi scripts. Wait, 00:09:56.429 --> 00:09:58.690 how so? Did he actually treat episodes about, 00:09:58.690 --> 00:10:00.730 like, time loops like they were Shakespeare? 00:10:01.049 --> 00:10:03.929 Essentially, yes. His castmates, people like 00:10:03.929 --> 00:10:06.370 Marina Surtis and Jonathan Frakes, they later 00:10:06.370 --> 00:10:08.850 credited Stewart's rigorous preparation with 00:10:08.850 --> 00:10:11.970 elevating the entire cast. Really? Yeah. He applied 00:10:11.970 --> 00:10:14.250 classical text analysis to scripts about alien 00:10:14.250 --> 00:10:16.649 anomalies. He basically forced everyone around 00:10:16.649 --> 00:10:18.970 him to bring their A game because he treated 00:10:18.990 --> 00:10:21.649 the material with absolute unflinching sincerity. 00:10:21.690 --> 00:10:24.090 That's amazing. He anchored the ridiculousness 00:10:24.090 --> 00:10:27.049 of the sci -fi premises with genuine human gravity. 00:10:27.389 --> 00:10:29.350 So, okay, he adapts, he elevates the show, and 00:10:29.350 --> 00:10:31.470 it runs for seven seasons and multiple films, 00:10:31.809 --> 00:10:34.210 and it makes him incredibly wealthy. Very wealthy. 00:10:34.470 --> 00:10:37.870 But, you listening, just imagine reaching the 00:10:37.870 --> 00:10:40.649 absolute pinnacle of financial success and global 00:10:40.649 --> 00:10:43.830 fame in your industry, only to realize you can 00:10:43.830 --> 00:10:45.950 never go back to the one thing you actually love 00:10:45.950 --> 00:10:49.250 doing. Yeah, because that success... essentially 00:10:49.250 --> 00:10:51.730 built a new cage for him. Right. He couldn't 00:10:51.730 --> 00:10:54.149 get classical stage or film roles anymore because 00:10:54.149 --> 00:10:57.070 he was just, quote, too Picard. It's the ultimate 00:10:57.070 --> 00:10:59.350 double -edged sword of massive television fame. 00:10:59.769 --> 00:11:01.889 The character completely consumes the actor. 00:11:02.070 --> 00:11:04.389 Which is terrifying for a character actor. Stewart 00:11:04.389 --> 00:11:07.230 actually gave a very revealing quote to The Times 00:11:07.230 --> 00:11:10.399 about this. He admitted, I had no idea where 00:11:10.399 --> 00:11:13.820 Picard began and I ended. We completely overlapped. 00:11:14.080 --> 00:11:17.779 His voice became my voice. Wow. And he was actively 00:11:17.779 --> 00:11:19.919 trying to get other parts, but the industry wall 00:11:19.919 --> 00:11:23.080 was just impenetrable. No director in Hollywood 00:11:23.080 --> 00:11:26.399 or London wanted to cast a, you know, grand, 00:11:26.500 --> 00:11:29.279 deep -voiced, bald English guy. Because the audience 00:11:29.279 --> 00:11:30.940 would just see the captain of the Enterprise 00:11:30.940 --> 00:11:33.419 sitting in their movie. Exactly. But here's where 00:11:33.419 --> 00:11:35.299 it gets really interesting. He gets approached 00:11:35.299 --> 00:11:38.279 to play Professor Charles Xavier in the X -Men 00:11:38.279 --> 00:11:41.580 film. franchise because they needed exactly that 00:11:41.580 --> 00:11:45.500 hyper specific set of attributes. A wise, grand, 00:11:45.600 --> 00:11:49.159 deep voiced, bald mentor figure. It's like he 00:11:49.159 --> 00:11:52.200 got locked inside a tiny restrictive room labeled 00:11:52.200 --> 00:11:54.620 sci -fi. But instead of trying to break out through 00:11:54.620 --> 00:11:57.080 the walls, he found a secret door leading to 00:11:57.080 --> 00:11:59.799 an exponentially bigger room labeled superhero 00:11:59.799 --> 00:12:02.519 blockbuster. That is a highly accurate way to 00:12:02.519 --> 00:12:05.200 frame it. But he was actually initially very 00:12:05.200 --> 00:12:08.169 reluctant to sign on to another massive multi 00:12:08.169 --> 00:12:10.450 -year franchise. I bet he felt like he had just 00:12:10.450 --> 00:12:13.490 escaped one. Exactly. But two factors swayed 00:12:13.490 --> 00:12:16.809 him. First, the director, Bryan Singer, pitched 00:12:16.809 --> 00:12:19.429 it not as just some comic book movie, but as 00:12:19.429 --> 00:12:21.809 a serious allegory for prejudice. That would 00:12:21.809 --> 00:12:24.429 appeal to him. And second, his old friend Ian 00:12:24.429 --> 00:12:26.730 McKellen had been cast as the villain, Magneto. 00:12:26.990 --> 00:12:29.409 Wait, the same Ian McKellen who told him Star 00:12:29.409 --> 00:12:31.970 Trek would flop? The very same. I imagine that 00:12:31.970 --> 00:12:33.590 conversation was incredible. McKellen having 00:12:33.590 --> 00:12:35.710 to look at him and say, actually, Patrick, the 00:12:35.710 --> 00:12:37.610 whole sci -fi franchise thing really worked out 00:12:37.610 --> 00:12:41.230 for you. Let's go do Mutants. Oh, yeah. And taking 00:12:41.230 --> 00:12:43.610 the role of Xavier wasn't a defeat for him. It 00:12:43.610 --> 00:12:46.250 wasn't him surrendering to typecasting. It was 00:12:46.250 --> 00:12:49.570 a masterstroke of strategy. How so? By leaning 00:12:49.570 --> 00:12:52.759 entirely into his specific brand. by totally 00:12:52.759 --> 00:12:55.919 owning the typecast. He secured the global fame 00:12:55.919 --> 00:12:58.679 and the financial independence he needed to fund 00:12:58.679 --> 00:13:00.860 his true passion for the rest of his life. Oh, 00:13:00.860 --> 00:13:03.240 I see. It's like a Trojan Horse strategy. He 00:13:03.240 --> 00:13:05.480 used the massive commercial vessel of popcorn, 00:13:05.580 --> 00:13:08.379 sci -fi and superhero movies to basically secure 00:13:08.379 --> 00:13:11.460 his own total creative leverage. Exactly. Because 00:13:11.460 --> 00:13:13.980 suddenly he doesn't need a studio's permission 00:13:13.980 --> 00:13:15.919 to act. He doesn't have to wait for a theater 00:13:15.919 --> 00:13:18.000 company to cast him. He has the money to just 00:13:18.000 --> 00:13:20.399 rent the theater himself. Right. He needed that 00:13:20.399 --> 00:13:23.480 artistic fulfillment, but because of his grueling 00:13:23.480 --> 00:13:26.080 film schedules, he also needed absolute control 00:13:26.080 --> 00:13:29.000 over his time. So he adapted again. He created 00:13:29.000 --> 00:13:31.659 a one -man version of Charles Dickens's A Christmas 00:13:31.659 --> 00:13:34.490 Carol. Oh, where he played over 40 characters 00:13:34.490 --> 00:13:37.210 himself. And not as a gimmick, but simply so 00:13:37.210 --> 00:13:39.389 he could dictate the rehearsal and performance 00:13:39.389 --> 00:13:41.750 schedule without having to rely on a massive 00:13:41.750 --> 00:13:45.029 cast. That is an astonishing flex of theatrical 00:13:45.029 --> 00:13:47.590 muscle. It really is. And it was critically claimed. 00:13:47.789 --> 00:13:49.710 It totally paved the way for his triumphant, 00:13:49.830 --> 00:13:52.129 full -scale return to Shakespeare. He did a highly 00:13:52.129 --> 00:13:55.009 praised Macbeth. He did Hamlet. Oh, and didn't 00:13:55.009 --> 00:13:57.370 he stage a production of Othello in Washington, 00:13:57.370 --> 00:14:01.059 DC that was just a profound artistic He did. 00:14:01.120 --> 00:14:04.159 It was a photo -negative production. Stuart played 00:14:04.159 --> 00:14:06.919 Othello, and he was the only white actor in an 00:14:06.919 --> 00:14:10.100 otherwise entirely black cast. Wow. And he had 00:14:10.100 --> 00:14:11.899 wanted to play Othello since he was 14 years 00:14:11.899 --> 00:14:14.360 old, right? Yeah, a lifelong dream. But flipping 00:14:14.360 --> 00:14:16.799 the racial dynamics like that? It completely 00:14:16.799 --> 00:14:18.879 changes the mechanism of the play. It isn't just 00:14:18.879 --> 00:14:22.000 a casting trick. It literally forces the audience 00:14:22.000 --> 00:14:25.360 to physically experience the alienation of the 00:14:25.360 --> 00:14:28.419 text in a completely new way. Absolutely. You 00:14:28.419 --> 00:14:30.700 watch a white man completely isolated within 00:14:30.700 --> 00:14:33.779 a black power structure, and it makes those 400 00:14:33.779 --> 00:14:36.460 -year -old themes of exclusion and paranoia feel 00:14:36.460 --> 00:14:39.460 so brutally immediate. It's incredibly bold. 00:14:39.580 --> 00:14:41.600 It requires a supreme level of confidence to 00:14:41.600 --> 00:14:44.059 pull that off. And that confidence actually began 00:14:44.059 --> 00:14:46.240 bleeding into how he presented. himself publicly 00:14:46.240 --> 00:14:49.220 too. Oh yeah. He started dismantling that overly 00:14:49.220 --> 00:14:52.279 serious pompous image he had cultivated for decades. 00:14:52.500 --> 00:14:54.639 Right. I mean just consider the marketing campaign 00:14:54.639 --> 00:14:56.940 he and Ian McKellen orchestrated for their Broadway 00:14:56.940 --> 00:15:00.000 run of Waiting for Godot and No Man's Land. Oh 00:15:00.000 --> 00:15:03.639 my gosh the bowler hats. Yes. So the play's official 00:15:03.639 --> 00:15:06.379 marketing department had these standard serious 00:15:06.379 --> 00:15:09.480 promotional materials planned but Stuart McKellen 00:15:09.480 --> 00:15:12.389 just hijacked it. They totally went rogue. They 00:15:12.389 --> 00:15:15.250 started taking these playful, genuinely silly 00:15:15.250 --> 00:15:17.990 tourist photos of themselves all over New York 00:15:17.990 --> 00:15:20.389 City, wearing their characters' bowler hats. 00:15:20.470 --> 00:15:22.750 It was brilliant. They were eating hot dogs at 00:15:22.750 --> 00:15:25.389 Nathan's, riding the Coney Island roller coaster, 00:15:25.730 --> 00:15:28.669 posing with Elmo in Times Square and just blasting 00:15:28.669 --> 00:15:31.309 it all out on Twitter. And the marketing team 00:15:31.309 --> 00:15:34.389 initially hated the idea, but it went massively 00:15:34.389 --> 00:15:36.809 viral and completely sold out the shows. Which 00:15:36.809 --> 00:15:39.470 is hilarious. But more importantly, it showed 00:15:39.470 --> 00:15:41.370 the world a completely different side of Stuart. 00:15:41.519 --> 00:15:44.399 Which totally explains his bizarre and wonderful 00:15:44.399 --> 00:15:47.259 pivot into modern comedy later on. I mean, how 00:15:47.259 --> 00:15:49.899 does a guy go from playing King Lear to voicing 00:15:49.899 --> 00:15:52.139 a character in the Emoji movie? I know, it sounds 00:15:52.139 --> 00:15:55.299 ridiculous. Or doing a guest spot on Extras where 00:15:55.299 --> 00:15:58.179 he plays a nudity -obsessed sociopathic caricature 00:15:58.179 --> 00:16:00.919 of himself. He even played a flamboyant opera 00:16:00.919 --> 00:16:03.039 director on Frasier who thinks Frasier Crane 00:16:03.039 --> 00:16:05.399 wants to date him. That episode is a classic. 00:16:05.600 --> 00:16:09.399 And he voices the deeply unhinged CIA Deputy 00:16:09.399 --> 00:16:12.340 Director Avery Bullock on the animated show American 00:16:12.340 --> 00:16:15.899 Dad. Oh, and he's apparently a massive fan of 00:16:15.899 --> 00:16:18.080 Beavis and Butthead. The reason his comedy is 00:16:18.080 --> 00:16:20.960 so devastatingly effective is the mechanism of 00:16:20.960 --> 00:16:23.539 juxtaposition. What do you mean? Well, when you 00:16:23.539 --> 00:16:26.720 take a classically trained baritone who has literally 00:16:26.720 --> 00:16:30.080 commanded starships and spoken Shakespeare and 00:16:30.080 --> 00:16:33.159 you have him deliver an utterly absurd, ridiculous 00:16:33.159 --> 00:16:36.679 line with dead serious life or death intensity, 00:16:37.500 --> 00:16:39.960 it's infinitely funnier than a standard comedian 00:16:39.960 --> 00:16:43.240 trying to be wacky. He weaponizes his own gravitas. 00:16:43.379 --> 00:16:45.480 Oh, that makes perfect sense. And he fully embraced 00:16:45.480 --> 00:16:47.500 the absurdity in his personal life, too. Like, 00:16:47.500 --> 00:16:49.320 look at his wedding to Sonny O 'Zell. Oh, the 00:16:49.320 --> 00:16:51.000 wedding story is good. They wanted to get married 00:16:51.000 --> 00:16:53.320 in Nevada, right? And they wanted Ian McKellen 00:16:53.320 --> 00:16:56.360 to officiate. But at the absolute last minute, 00:16:56.440 --> 00:16:58.860 they discovered McKellen's officiating credentials 00:16:58.860 --> 00:17:01.139 weren't legally valid in the state of Nevada. 00:17:01.259 --> 00:17:03.759 So they had to improvise legalities. Yeah. They 00:17:03.759 --> 00:17:06.240 held a secret, unofficial ceremony in a Mexican 00:17:06.240 --> 00:17:08.940 restaurant in Los Angeles just to sign the paperwork 00:17:08.940 --> 00:17:10.799 and make it legal before the big celebration. 00:17:10.730 --> 00:17:14.069 Think about the sheer absurdity of that visual. 00:17:14.670 --> 00:17:17.029 Captain Picard and Gandalf squeezed into a booth 00:17:17.029 --> 00:17:19.589 at a Mexican restaurant hurriedly doing wedding 00:17:19.589 --> 00:17:22.750 vows over a plate of chips and salsa. It perfectly 00:17:22.750 --> 00:17:25.329 illustrates a man who finally learned to embrace 00:17:25.329 --> 00:17:27.789 the unexpected and just stop taking himself so 00:17:27.789 --> 00:17:30.150 seriously. Totally. But we do have to draw a 00:17:30.150 --> 00:17:32.650 distinction here. While he stopped taking himself 00:17:32.650 --> 00:17:35.730 seriously, he remains incredibly serious about 00:17:35.730 --> 00:17:38.569 the real world and the specific issues he advocates 00:17:38.569 --> 00:17:41.519 for. Right. And this is where the deep dive really 00:17:41.519 --> 00:17:44.460 comes full circle. Because Stewart has a massive 00:17:44.460 --> 00:17:46.940 global platform, but he doesn't just attach his 00:17:46.940 --> 00:17:49.680 name to generic Hollywood causes. No, not at 00:17:49.680 --> 00:17:53.339 all. He channels his influence into highly specific, 00:17:53.779 --> 00:17:56.319 deeply personal advocacy that traces straight 00:17:56.319 --> 00:17:58.339 back to the trauma of his childhood in Yorkshire. 00:17:58.680 --> 00:18:01.299 Yes. His extensive work with Amnesty International, 00:18:01.660 --> 00:18:03.960 and particularly his patronage of Refuge, which 00:18:03.960 --> 00:18:07.539 is a UK charity for abused women, is profoundly 00:18:07.539 --> 00:18:09.740 tied to witnessing his His father abused his 00:18:09.740 --> 00:18:11.960 mother. And he's very open about it. He doesn't 00:18:11.960 --> 00:18:15.279 shy away from it at all. In 2009, he gave a speech 00:18:15.279 --> 00:18:18.180 where he explicitly stated, violence is a choice 00:18:18.180 --> 00:18:21.680 and it's a choice a man makes. Wow. He uses his 00:18:21.680 --> 00:18:24.400 own traumatic history to publicly demonstrate 00:18:24.400 --> 00:18:26.940 that it is possible to survive that terrifying 00:18:26.940 --> 00:18:29.299 environment and actively break the cycle. But 00:18:29.299 --> 00:18:32.160 what is truly staggering to me is that he also 00:18:32.160 --> 00:18:35.220 found a way to extend empathy to his abuser. 00:18:35.400 --> 00:18:37.599 Yeah, that's incredibly rare. He became a patron 00:18:37.599 --> 00:18:40.619 of Combat Stress, a charity for armed forces 00:18:40.619 --> 00:18:43.180 veterans. And this happened after he participated 00:18:43.180 --> 00:18:45.619 in a genealogy television show that helped him 00:18:45.619 --> 00:18:48.579 finally uncover and understand the full extent 00:18:48.579 --> 00:18:52.319 of his father's severe undiagnosed PTSD from 00:18:52.319 --> 00:18:55.599 World War II. He realized that the war had basically 00:18:55.599 --> 00:18:57.640 shattered his father's mind before Patrick was 00:18:57.640 --> 00:18:59.980 even born. Finding that kind of grace requires 00:18:59.980 --> 00:19:02.720 an immense analytical capacity. It demands looking 00:19:02.720 --> 00:19:05.059 past the immediate visceral pain of your own 00:19:05.059 --> 00:19:07.900 childhood to understand the systemic root cause 00:19:07.900 --> 00:19:12.180 of a person's brokenness. Definitely. same analytical 00:19:12.180 --> 00:19:14.400 root cause approach in his political life. We 00:19:14.400 --> 00:19:16.420 do. And looking at his political record, and 00:19:16.420 --> 00:19:18.740 just to be clear to you listening, we are strictly 00:19:18.740 --> 00:19:20.579 mapping out his stated views from the source 00:19:20.579 --> 00:19:22.779 material today. We aren't endorsing or taking 00:19:22.779 --> 00:19:25.160 a side on any of it. Right, just reporting the 00:19:25.160 --> 00:19:28.640 facts here. Exactly. But he is unequivocally 00:19:28.640 --> 00:19:31.490 progressive. He openly identifies as a socialist, 00:19:31.730 --> 00:19:34.869 a feminist, and an atheist. He was fiercely critical 00:19:34.869 --> 00:19:37.609 of the Iraq war. He financially supported the 00:19:37.609 --> 00:19:40.049 People's Vote campaign, demanding a second referendum 00:19:40.049 --> 00:19:42.509 on Brexit. He's very vocal about that. And at 00:19:42.509 --> 00:19:44.430 one point, he even stated he wanted to apply 00:19:44.430 --> 00:19:47.309 for U .S. citizenship specifically to politically 00:19:47.309 --> 00:19:50.529 oppose the Trump administration. So his ideological 00:19:50.529 --> 00:19:53.369 credentials are very thoroughly established in 00:19:53.369 --> 00:19:56.700 the public record. But because he operates on 00:19:56.700 --> 00:20:00.039 analysis rather than tribalism, he frequently 00:20:00.039 --> 00:20:03.019 throws people a curveball that challenges those 00:20:03.019 --> 00:20:05.619 ideological lines. Oh, the Belfast Bakery controversy 00:20:05.619 --> 00:20:08.000 is the perfect example of this. Yes. In 2015, 00:20:08.119 --> 00:20:10.519 there was this massive legal controversy involving 00:20:10.519 --> 00:20:13.000 Christian bakers in Northern Ireland who were 00:20:13.000 --> 00:20:15.160 legally penalized for refusing to bake a cake 00:20:15.160 --> 00:20:17.700 that included the message, support gay marriage. 00:20:18.059 --> 00:20:20.480 Right. And given Stewart's fiercely progressive 00:20:20.480 --> 00:20:23.619 politics and his own atheism, the public assumption 00:20:23.619 --> 00:20:25.960 was that he would condemned the Bakers. Literally. 00:20:26.180 --> 00:20:29.059 But he didn't. He publicly defended them. He 00:20:29.059 --> 00:20:31.220 argued that the core issue wasn't discrimination 00:20:31.220 --> 00:20:34.180 against a marginalized group, but actually the 00:20:34.180 --> 00:20:36.779 defense of free speech. Which surprised a lot 00:20:36.779 --> 00:20:38.799 of people. Well, he pointed out the mechanics 00:20:38.799 --> 00:20:41.920 of the situation. The Bakers did not object to 00:20:41.920 --> 00:20:44.619 serving a gay couple in their shop. They specifically 00:20:44.619 --> 00:20:46.980 objected to being legally compelled to physically 00:20:46.980 --> 00:20:50.380 write words on a cake that directly violated 00:20:50.380 --> 00:20:53.490 their personal religious beliefs. So, what does 00:20:53.490 --> 00:20:55.650 this all mean? I really struggled with this when 00:20:55.650 --> 00:20:59.269 I first read it. How do we reconcile this outspoken, 00:20:59.430 --> 00:21:01.890 progressive activist defending a conservative 00:21:01.890 --> 00:21:04.529 religious baker's refusal to write a pro -equality 00:21:04.529 --> 00:21:06.930 message? Well, if we connect this to the bigger 00:21:06.930 --> 00:21:09.609 picture, it reveals his fundamental operating 00:21:09.609 --> 00:21:12.829 philosophy, which he defines simply as fairness. 00:21:13.009 --> 00:21:15.890 Fairness. Yes. His highly nuanced take on the 00:21:15.890 --> 00:21:18.450 Kate controversy is driven by the exact same 00:21:18.450 --> 00:21:20.710 mechanism as his realization about his father's 00:21:20.710 --> 00:21:23.829 PTSD. It shows a man who values critical thinking 00:21:23.829 --> 00:21:27.829 and deep structural empathy over blind Ideological 00:21:27.829 --> 00:21:31.650 tribalism. Okay. He essentially argued I am vehemently 00:21:31.650 --> 00:21:34.609 opposed to organized religion But I must support 00:21:34.609 --> 00:21:37.710 their right to say I will not write this specific 00:21:37.710 --> 00:21:40.230 message because it is personally offensive to 00:21:40.230 --> 00:21:43.809 my beliefs He looks at the principle of free 00:21:43.809 --> 00:21:46.670 expression regardless of whether he agrees with 00:21:46.670 --> 00:21:48.970 the people exercising it It's about protecting 00:21:48.970 --> 00:21:51.029 the right to refuse, because if you strip that 00:21:51.029 --> 00:21:52.890 right away from people you disagree with, you 00:21:52.890 --> 00:21:54.829 inevitably strip it from yourself down the line. 00:21:55.009 --> 00:21:57.509 Exactly. And speaking of extending empathy to 00:21:57.509 --> 00:21:59.990 the misunderstood, we absolutely have to talk 00:21:59.990 --> 00:22:03.319 about his dogs. Oh, we must. Stewart is a massive, 00:22:03.839 --> 00:22:07.059 incredibly vocal advocate for pit bulls. He fosters 00:22:07.059 --> 00:22:09.480 them in Los Angeles, he works closely with the 00:22:09.480 --> 00:22:11.920 ASPCA on their national dog fighting awareness 00:22:11.920 --> 00:22:14.180 campaign, and he actually won their Pit Bull 00:22:14.180 --> 00:22:16.799 Advocate and Protector Award. It is the perfect 00:22:16.799 --> 00:22:19.539 poetic culmination of his protective instinct. 00:22:20.119 --> 00:22:22.119 Taking a creature that society has basically 00:22:22.119 --> 00:22:24.980 labeled as inherently aggressive, dangerous, 00:22:25.220 --> 00:22:28.059 and irredeemable and giving it a safe, highly 00:22:28.059 --> 00:22:30.299 controlled, loving environment. It's impossible 00:22:30.299 --> 00:22:32.400 not to see this psychological parallel here, 00:22:32.460 --> 00:22:35.140 isn't it? He's drawn to a creature that is widely 00:22:35.140 --> 00:22:37.819 feared, but which, underneath the terrifying 00:22:37.819 --> 00:22:40.839 reputation, is usually just reacting to severe 00:22:40.839 --> 00:22:44.200 trauma in a violently bad environment. Just like 00:22:44.200 --> 00:22:47.880 his father. Wow. He is actively healing that 00:22:47.880 --> 00:22:50.660 dynamic in real time, providing the safety for 00:22:50.660 --> 00:22:53.779 these dogs that his father never received. It 00:22:53.779 --> 00:22:56.140 really is a staggering life journey to map out. 00:22:56.240 --> 00:22:58.960 I mean, we've gone from a terrified, hyper -observant 00:22:58.960 --> 00:23:02.119 boy in a violent home in Yorkshire to a theatrical 00:23:02.119 --> 00:23:04.960 purist who sneered at television. To an accidental 00:23:04.960 --> 00:23:07.779 sci -fi icon who defined moral leadership for 00:23:07.779 --> 00:23:11.009 an entire generation. And finally, to this joyful, 00:23:11.369 --> 00:23:14.029 deeply nuanced advocate who uses his platform 00:23:14.029 --> 00:23:16.789 to champion fairness for humans and misunderstood 00:23:16.789 --> 00:23:19.190 dogs alike. He managed to integrate all those 00:23:19.190 --> 00:23:21.210 intensely conflicting parts of his life. He didn't 00:23:21.210 --> 00:23:23.390 let the trauma consume him, and he definitely 00:23:23.390 --> 00:23:25.690 didn't let the massive Hollywood machine erase 00:23:25.690 --> 00:23:27.710 his theatrical soul. And it really makes you 00:23:27.710 --> 00:23:30.150 reflect on how you manage the compromises in 00:23:30.150 --> 00:23:32.210 your own life. Like, how do you balance the reality 00:23:32.210 --> 00:23:34.589 of your day job with the pursuits you were truly 00:23:34.589 --> 00:23:37.750 passionate about? It's a tough balance. But Patrick 00:23:37.750 --> 00:23:40.190 Stewart literally used the Starship Enterprise 00:23:40.190 --> 00:23:42.930 and the Mutant X Mansion as financial engines 00:23:42.930 --> 00:23:45.930 to fund his one -man stage shows and his charitable 00:23:45.930 --> 00:23:48.710 work. He made the commercial system work for 00:23:48.710 --> 00:23:51.049 his art instead of letting his art be commodified 00:23:51.049 --> 00:23:53.829 by the system. Which is a profound tactical lesson 00:23:53.829 --> 00:23:55.910 for anyone trying to navigate a creative life 00:23:55.910 --> 00:23:59.089 today. Yeah. But this raises one final important 00:23:59.089 --> 00:24:01.490 question, something for you to mull over as we 00:24:01.490 --> 00:24:03.509 wrap up our analysis today. OK, lay it on us. 00:24:03.789 --> 00:24:05.849 We know that Patrick Stewart applied the immense 00:24:05.849 --> 00:24:08.289 gravitas and discipline of Shakespearean kings 00:24:08.289 --> 00:24:10.930 to his roles as Captain Picard and Professor 00:24:10.930 --> 00:24:14.349 Xavier. He undoubtedly elevated those fictional 00:24:14.349 --> 00:24:16.589 characters. Definitely. But looking at the full 00:24:16.589 --> 00:24:19.670 sweeping trajectory of his life, his deeply principled 00:24:19.670 --> 00:24:22.809 advocacy, and his evolving empathy, you really 00:24:22.809 --> 00:24:25.430 have to wonder. Wonder what? Did playing those 00:24:25.430 --> 00:24:28.150 highly moral, fiercely empathetic fictional leaders 00:24:28.150 --> 00:24:30.670 for decades actually end up shaping the man himself? 00:24:31.309 --> 00:24:34.269 As he spent years projecting that idealized 24th 00:24:34.269 --> 00:24:36.450 century enlightenment, did the mask of the captain 00:24:36.450 --> 00:24:39.680 slowly become the face of the actor? Wow. That 00:24:39.680 --> 00:24:41.720 is exactly the kind of question that makes this 00:24:41.720 --> 00:24:44.180 all worth exploring. Thank you so much for joining 00:24:44.180 --> 00:24:46.299 us for this deep dive. We will catch you next 00:24:46.299 --> 00:24:46.579 time.