Patrick Stewart Said He Would Never Retire From Acting

In a July interview, Patrick Stewart reflected on the later stages of his acting career, saying that roles become harder to find as actors age. He also said he continued to receive interesting offers and enjoyed being challenged by new work, including voicing a pig’s head in Riz Ahmed’s series Bait.

Stewart said he could not imagine officially retiring and expected to remain an actor throughout his life. He discussed several projects, including narrating Shakespeare’s sonnets for an audiobook and returning as Charles Xavier in Avengers: Doomsday, which was described as his last film.

He also spoke about Captain Jean-Luc Picard, calling the Star Trek character the most significant role of his career. Stewart played Picard in Star Trek: The Next Generation and later returned to the role in the series Picard.

Stewart died at his Los Angeles home on October 28, aged 86. His longtime spokesperson said he had been living with Alzheimer’s disease and Lewy body dementia. Family and friends were with him, the spokesperson said, as tributes followed from co-stars and others in the entertainment industry.