‘Star Trek: Picard’s Sir Patrick Stewart Spills 7 Series Secrets

When an actor is first introduced to the Star Trek universe, there’s typically some trepidation. After all these actors enter their series and movies with the knowledge that they’re joining a decades-long pop culture institution. But when Stewart was first cast in Star Trek: The Next Generation, he didn’t share that specific brand of nervousness.

“I had not watched it. When it first came up as a thought, I had to talk to my children because they had watched it,” Stewart said. “I remember when I used to come home between matinee and evening performances when I was working in Stratford-upon-Avon so that I could have some bedtime with them because I hardly saw them at all. And I would come home on a Saturday late afternoon and they would be watching this thing on television with these guys in colored T-shirts. I didn’t know what it was, and it was only later that I discovered that. They were my points of reference and what they felt about it. It was very helpful.”

There are a lot of new characters to love in the CBS All Access drama. But one is extra lovable: Picard’s pet pit bull, who goes by the name Number One. It was incredibly important to the actor that the now-retired captain have a pet.

“I have, only in the last four years, renewed my acquaintance with dogs. I used to have a Border Collie when I was little and nothing since then. I thought all we need to do is to have a dog at Picard’s side,” Stewart said. “That, without any dialogue or any dramatic reference, will say a lot about this man.”

But choosing Number One to be a pit bull was less of a character choice and more of a personal choice for the legend. “I am obsessed with pit bulls,” Stewart said.

“In England they are a banned breed. I adopted my first pit bull and already we were excited about the thought of taking her back to England but couldn’t do it. They wouldn’t let her into the country,” Stewart explained. “I even talked to the British Embassy in Washington about it and they said ‘There is nothing we can do. We have people ourselves wanting to take pit bulls. You can not take pit bulls to England.’ So I am now part of a campaign in the UK to get this legislation changed. Because they are the most sensitive, the most loving, the most giving, the most affectionate creatures that you can ever possibly hope to meet.”

When we first see Jean-Luc it’s clear that he’s taken over his brother’s vineyard. But what exactly are the Picard brothers drinking?

“It’s Claret that he’s growing,” Stewart explained. “Look at the bottle.”

In fact there was a minor behind-the-scenes controversy surrounding the wine. Though Picard’s vineyard was supposed to be in the Bordeaux region of France, for a while the bottles used were incorrect. “It was in the wrong bottle and people freaked out. Picard would know what he’s growing,” Stewart’s co-star Isa Briones said.

“I think I have already drunk more wine in this first season of Picard than I drank in the whole series and four movies before that,” Stewart joked. But the actor hinted there may be a connection to Picard’s newfound love of alcohol and his darker, more regret-filled worldview.

“There were opportunities where I would say ‘I think I need a glass of wine in this scene here,'” Stewart said, noting, “Before you arrive, maybe he’s drinking a little too much. Just a subtle suggestion.”

Just becasue we haven’t seen Captain Picard for roughly two decades doesn’t mean his offscreen past is a complete mystery. The creative team of Picard in conjunction with Stewart spent a good amount of time outlining what happened to his character.

“We spent days just talking about the backstory, which you’ll never see. Well, actually, that’s not quite true. You might see glimpses of it now and again,” Stewart teased. “But the great thing about it is — and I wasn’t prepared for this, I discovered it — is I also lived through those 19 years. Patrick had lived through them, and I have changed. I’m different and I feel differently about the world that I am living in. In subtle ways these — and these will be subtle ways, we are not writing a political program — will be reflected in what we do in Picard.“

If you’re hoping that Star Trek: Picard will basically be a repackaged Next Generation reboot, prepare to be a little disappointed. Though Picard features several TNG characters, it’s steadfastly its own show. In fact Stewart was so focused on creating something new rather than a reboot, he originally didn’t want to cast any of his co-stars from The Next Generation.

“I don’t mean to give any offense to anyone, but I struggled a little bit with this issue. I was so obsessed with this idea that we must leave Next Generation behind, we must pull the curtain down on that and explore new things,” Stewart explained. “Then little by little, the more we talked… Luckily as a co-executive producer I was involved in meetings I had never been involved in as an actor before, and I could contribute. I began increasingly to feel my colleagues from Next Generation, we need to see them. They too can reflect how the times have changed.”

It may be Sir Patrick Stewart’s name, face, and beloved character on the billboards, but the actor stressed one point. Star Trek: Picard is a group effort.

“It’s the most important word for me whenever I talk about what we’re doing. It’s an ensemble show,” Stewart said.

New episodes of Star Trek: Picard premiere on CBS All Access Thursdays at 12:01 am PT exclusively in the U.S.

Watch Star Trek: Picard on CBS All Access