Patrick Stewart has revealed that Ian McKellen advised him to turn down his now-iconic Star Trek role.
The X-Men co-stars first met in the '70s while working together at the Royal Shakespeare Company, but when Stewart was offered the life-changing role of Captain Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek: The Next Generation in 1987, McKellen warned him against leaving the theatre for TV.
Discussing the experience in his new memoir Making It So, Stewart recalled: "When I told him I was going to sign the contract, he almost bodily prevented me from doing so.
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"'No!' he said. 'No, you must not do that. You must not. You have too much important theatre work to do. You can’t throw that away to do TV. You can't. No!'"
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"There are few people, particularly with regard to acting, whose counsel I trust more than Ian's," he continued.
"But this time I had to tell him that I felt theatre would return to my life whenever I was ready for it, whereas an offer of the lead role in an American TV series might never come again."
Although McKellen "shook his head sadly" at this news, Stewart added that the Lord of the Rings star also wished him well and gave him a "big hug".
Related: Sir Patrick Stewart wants to do another Star Trek movie
Of course, Star Trek catapulted Stewart to super-stardom, but the actor says McKellen has since admitted "he was wrong".
"In the years since, we have become dear pals and X-Men colleagues, and Ian has acknowledged that he was wrong and I was right. More than once, in fact – primarily because I like making him say those words," he shared.
Stewart and McKellen have shared the big screen in several X-Men movies playing Professor X and Magneto, respectively.
Star Trek: Picard streams on Paramount+, and UK viewers can also see the show on Prime Video.
Social Executive, Entertainment Portfolio After completing her joint honours degree in Journalism and English Literature at Cardiff University, Iona joined Digital Spy as a Content Production Intern in 2022, where she wrote across both news and features, specialising in TV and movies. Following her internship, Iona continued contributing to the site as a freelance reporter, becoming social executive for the Hearst UK entertainment portfolio in summer 2025. Iona now leads the DS social channels, covering red carpets with stars such as Paul Mescal, Austin Butler, and more.
