For decades now, Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart have had their names linked together, playing two sides of the same coin as Magneto and Professor X in the X-Men films. However, the pair have been close to each other for far longer, dating back to their times working in the Royal Shakespeare Company together in the 1970s.
With how closely they have been linked, it is not surprising that they consulted each other when they were making big career decisions. In an interview, Stewart revealed that he was given a very big piece of advice by McKellen when he was considering joining the cast of Star Trek.
Ian McKellen’s Words of Wisdom to Patrick Stewart
During an interview with Southbank Centre, Patrick Stewart revealed that he sought Ian McKellen’s advice when he was first given the chance to join the cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation. Since the franchise wasn’t all too big at the time, with only Star Trek: The Original Series having come out by that point, McKellen was quite wary about what this would mean for his friend’s career.
Stewart revealed that McKellen told him not to take the job as he already had a lot going on for him that could establish him within the film industry. Considering how television series can often turn into very long contracts, his reservations do make sense.
Ian said, “Don’t do it. Don’t do it. Look you’ve got a great career ahead of you, on the stage…I thought, you know, perhaps, he was right. I shouldn’t do television. Well, then I learned that it was a six-year contract and it was ten months in every six years that we would be working.
Additionally, Stewart was also given a six-year contract to sign, which would make it very difficult for him to pursue any other jobs, specifically because the contract required ten months from him, every year, for six years.
While anyone would have been cautious about such a deal, letting this opportunity pass him by could have easily been one of the biggest mistakes in Stewart’s professional life.
Ian McKellen Was Wrong
One of the defining projects in the early years of Patrick Stewart’s career has to be the Star Trek franchise. He was front and center as Jean-Luc Picard in the first show that he starred in. Additionally, he has been a part of projects like Star Trek: Picard, Star Trek: First Contact, Star Trek: Nemesis, and Star Trek Generations.
With this in mind, one can wonder what a horrible decision it could have been if Stewart had listened to Ian McKellen’s advice. Later in the interview, the actor spoke on exactly this, stating that the role that the Magneto actor asked him to turn down ended up being career-defining in many ways, having worked on the franchise for 12 years and turned into a timeless icon.
Then we did four feature films after that. So the job that Ian had recommended I turn down, actually lasted 12 years. He has admitted this in public that he did recommend that, and he has admitted he was wrong.
While some might be spiteful about being this wrong, Stewart led on that McKellen was more than happy to admit that he was wrong. Talking about the poor advice, the actor has admitted openly to the public that it is a good thing that Stewart did not listen to his suggestion.
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