Patrick Stewart Did Something Only One Other Star Trek Actor Accomplished
On top of his legendary performance as the heroic Captain Jean-Luc Picard, Patrick Stewart set himself apart from most of his "Star Trek" peers by also playing a memorable villain.
Just three years after Stewart made his debut as Picard in "Star Trek: The Next Generation" in 1987, the actor appeared as Locutus of Borg, the evil version of Picard under the Borg Collective's control. Serving as the Borg's spokesperson, Locutus was designed to force the Federation's surrender. Even after Picard was freed from this villainous persona, he never stopped dealing with the trauma it inflicted on him. Locutus primarily featured in the "Star Trek: The Next Generation" Season 3 finale and Season 4 premiere, though he briefly showed up again in flashbacks and in the pilot episode of "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine".
Stewart entered unique territory with the roles of Picard and Locutus, as "Star Trek" viewers admire the former for his unwavering integrity and remember the latter for his harrowing presence in the story. Plenty of "Star Trek" actors took on multiple roles in the franchise, but only Brent Spiner achieved Stewart's feat of portraying a revered hero and a terrific recurring villain. In "Star Trek: The Next Generation," Spiner had the dual part of the android Data and his sinister twin brother Lore.
Patrick Stewart was unsure about Locutus of Borg at first
Captain Picard's transformation into Locutus of Borg ended up being one of the most pivotal plot threads in the character's "Star Trek" arc. However, Patrick Stewart initially wasn't a fan of the idea. "I remember questioning whether that storyline was a good one to follow," Stewart told The Hollywood Reporter in 2020. Morphing into a different, more evil, version of Picard was a complicated task for Stewart, but the actor eventually came to value the time he spent as Locutus. "The best part about [playing] Locutus was that I have something to reference, the drama Picard had to endure, the makeup process for me, which was extremely unpleasant and painful and unsettling. No experience is wasted," Stewart added.
In his brief appearances as Locutus, Stewart convincingly departed from Picard's upstanding and hopeful nature in favor of the villain's stone-faced cruelty. Even more than 30 years later, it's hard not to feel a chill down your spine when hearing Locutus tell the crew of the USS Enterprise, "Resistance is futile."
Stewart's death at age 86 has sparked so many tributes from his "Star Trek" co-stars to the entertainment world at large. Universally deemed among the sci-fi franchise's most iconic performers, Stewart made a statement in the franchise as both a good guy and a bad guy.