Star Trek’s Patrick Stewart Once Played A Shakespearean Character On TNG

“Star Trek: The next -generation” episode “The Dector” (January 1, 1990) begins with the fact that Captain Picard (Patrick Stewart) is monitoring the information (Brent Spiner), which implements the scene from William Shakespeare’s “Henry V” event in Holodeck. For those who left reading “Henry V” in high school, the story follows the young, recently crowned King Henry as he prepares to attack France. The young person wishes is struggling to take seriously because his youth spent carbon dioxide and low (such as “Henry IV” I and II). However, HAP proves to be inspiring the presence of a battlefield that gives other Englishmen encouraging speeches they need to fight. The play culminates in the Aggancourt’s battle in 1415.

In the “Star Trek” section, the scene presented by the information comes from ACT IV, paragraph I, when King Henry has covered himself as one of his own soldiers. He strives to penetrate his men and get a line of what they might think of him as a commander. The scene is, as in many Shakespeare Productions, which is greatly cut off from the text of the true play, but the spirit remains the same. In the exhibition, Henry speaks to three guards, called Bates, Williams and the Court. At the “Star Trek” event, Williams and the court combine one of the characters.

The Williams/Court character has long hair and crumpled face that seemingly scored from previous battles. He does not have many rows of dialogue and does not have a significant role in the play, but he is marked to Henry. He is an average British citizen who speaks to his mind. And since Henry V is disguised, he is free to do so.

Looks closely, and you will find that Stewart plays Williams/Court under heavy makeup. It was the only character that Stewart played with “Star Trek” like Captain Picard (no, holographic recreation and guest Doppelgängers).

The information will perform his scene in a full Shakespearean suit, while Picard, watching, complements his performance. The information says he is studying the techniques of Olivier, Branagh, Shapiro and Kullnark. How flattering the Kenneth Branagh – whose 1989 “Henry V” was still in theaters when this episode was presented – should already be expelled as one of the largest that historians marked in the 24th century. Picard and data point out that data performance was intended to investigate human state, and as Picard points out, there is no better way to do it than through Shakespeare.

The amusing part is that the camera cuts Stewart’s shot from Williams from Stewart as captain as Picard. Stewart not only could play two characters at the “Star Trek” event, but had to do them in the same scene. Usually such a thing is reserved for Brent Spiner.

Stewart’s participation in the scene “Henry V” is not surprising given the actor’s long history with Bard. Before “Star Trek”, Stewart was a widely celebrated stage and screen actress who was part of Royal Shakespeare, who went through 1966. He made his Shakespeare debut the previous year, playing Shylock in “Venetian merchant” in the old Vic “Henry v”, Grumio “Shrew’s thumb”, Cornwall “King Lear”, the amusing Launch “Verona in two gentlemen”, and both in Oberon and on the list Two different excursions “Midsummer Night’s Dream”.

So, yeah, Stewart was hardly a Shakespeare neophyt when asked to read a few rows to “Henry V” “Star Trek”. Stewart’s relief can almost be seen, sliding into an area he was well familiar with.

Stewart’s Shakespeare refunds also spread to the screen. He played Claudius at the BBC’s “Hamlet” event in 1980, starring Derek Jacob opposite Hamlet. Here is a Som Fun Trivia: Stewart would play Claudius again in “Hamlet” in 2009, opposite David Tennantia. In that production, he also played Hamlet’s father’s ghost, which means that Claudius and Old Hamlet were identical twins. At the same time, Derek Jacobi continued Claudius in the 1996 “Hamlet” movie opposite Kenneth Branagh.

Strangely enough, Stewart was not offered the lead role in Shakespeare’s plays only after he had decided on a small screen “Star Trek: The Next Generation” in 1994. In 1995, he finally played prospero at the “The Tempest” event at the New York Shakespeare Festival. Two years later, he contributed to Othello in the version of the character in the competition. In 2006, he returned to the royal company to play again, as well as Mark Antony “Antony and Cleopatra”. He also played Malvolio “twelfth night” and in Macbeth.

Stewart’s latest Royal Shakespeare trip was played again in Shylock in 2011. 45 years later, he had the opportunity to play the same role. After returning to Jean-Luc Picard’s role in the 2020 series “Star Trek: Picard”. Stewart also played a superhero-character character in several “X-Men” movies, and he also plays again The upcoming 2026 movie “Avengers: Doomsday”. Stewart is a capable actor with a lot of selection, but he also knows when it is safe to stay in a certain actor’s comfort zone.