“Don’t do this”: Star Trek Nearly Cast Another Actor as Jean-Luc Picard, Patrick Stewart Was Never Gene Roddenberry’s First Choice

Patrick Stewart and the Star Trek franchise are not too far from each other. He played the character of Jean Luc Picard for seven long seasons in Star Trek: The Next Generation from 1987 to 1994. Stewart then went on to feature in four more movies, and recently we also saw him return to the beloved role in the series, Star Trek: Picard, which ran for three more seasons from 2020 to 2023.

But it would come as a shock to many Star Trek enthusiasts to know that Gene Roddenberry, the creator of the Star Trek universe did not want Patrick Stewart to play the role of Captain Picard in TNG. And as for Stewart, when he joined the show, he did not think the show would even last the first season. He was just taking a chance to “make some money” and “get a suntan.”

A Battlestar Galactica Actor Was Offered The Lead Role In Star Trek: The Next Generation

When Star Trek: The Next Generation was being made, Gene Roddenberry, the creator of the Star Trek franchise, wanted a very different actor to play the character of Jean Luc Picard. Instead of Sir Patrick Stewart, who was more famous in the theater world back then than movies or television, it was Edward James Olmos, who was offered to play the lead role of the ship’s captain.

While he had to turn down the offer because of other commitments, Olmos later became famous for playing William Adama in the Star Trek like show, Battlestar Galactica. Allegedly, Olmos did not like the sci-fi genre much, and did not want to work on one either. It was after much deliberation that he said yes to Battlestar Galactica, and only because the show was more story driven than about the aliens and the world beyond ours.

In a fascinating turn of events, the Miami Vice actor was also considered for a role in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock. Leonard Nimoy, the Star Trek legend famous for playing the Vulcan, Spock, wanted Olmos to play the character of Kruge, a Klingon Commander. The character was later played by Christopher Lloyd.

Patrick Stewart Was Advised Against Taking The Star Trek Job

Patrick Stewart was still more of a theatre actor than a TV or movie star when he got offered the role of Captain Jean Luc Picard. His friends and colleagues even advised him against taking on the job, as it was far from his home and family, and they felt he would shine better in the world of theatre than on the screen. In a conversation with NPR, Stewart once revealed:

I wasn’t going to take it. Indeed, a dear friend of mine and a very important English actor had said to me, “Don’t do this, Patrick. It’s not what you need to do. You’re a very good stage actor. That’s where you ought to be. Don’t do it.”

But another person told him that he should take up the job as it would be easy money. No one thought the show would last past the first season, but in one or the other, things worked out for the best.

I remember one actor saying to me, “Sign up for this. Do six months of work. Make some money for the first time in your life. Get well known, get a suntan and go home.”

He further added:

And I thought, “Yeah. That doesn’t sound too bad. I could live with that.” And, of course, our first series lasted seven seasons. And then we made four feature films.

The character of Jean Luc Picard became an important part of the Star Trek franchise and Patrick Stewart a legend. Star Trek: The Next Generation is available for streaming on Paramount+.

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