‘Star Trek: Picard’: Patrick Stewart & Gates McFadden on ‘Blast’ of a Reunion (VIDEO)
“How hard is it to reunite with this man, seriously, right? He’s like catnip to women,” said Gates McFadden, reprising her role as Dr. Beverly Crusher opposite Patrick Stewart’s Jean-Luc in Star Trek: Picard‘s final season. “It was great, great fun, and I loved doing it.
As much as we love that Picard is staging a major The Next Generation reunion, it can’t match how happy Stewart and McFadden were when talking about being back together at San Diego Comic-Con with Andrea Towers in the TV Insider and TV Guide Magazine studio, sponsored by Hollywood unBranded. They also teased what to expect from the end of the series and reflected on the endurance of the franchise.
Maarten de Boer
The characters will be seeing each other again after 25 years, and now, Dr. Crusher is “older and wiser — we hope — and just as argumentative as always,” McFadden shared. Teased Stewart, “The discussions are often of a personal nature, a family nature,” and he couldn’t say more than that.
Also reprising their roles from The Next Generation in Season 3 are LeVar Burton (Geordi La Forge), Michael Dorn (Worf), Jonathan Frakes (William Riker), Marina Sirtis (Deanna Troi), and Brent Spiner (Data), and you can expect to see all their characters have changed. “We had a blast and laughed a lot and got silly as always and also had some very moving moments, so I think the story is quite brilliant and very powerful,” McFadden said.
As for how the Paramount+ series will end for everyone, expect to be excited, then happy. “We’re happy,” Stewart shared. “It makes a difference when you love and respect the people you’re working with. It makes such a difference. It loosens you up, frees you up, gives you more confidence. You can be bolder than you otherwise might’ve been.”
The Star Trek franchise has been around for 56 years, and for Stewart and McFadden, it’s easy to see why. Stewart noted that Trek can take responsibility for the increase in students who want to be scientists and engineers, while according to McFadden, “it helps many people to find the courage to go for that dream.”
Watch the video above for more from Stewart and McFadden — who are fantastic together! — including about Picard and Q (John de Lancie) in Season 2, as well as a “moving” story she shared with him about a one-person tour she did during the Bosnian War for the first time.
Star Trek: Picard, Third and Final Season, 2023, Paramount+
