2026 has taken a great many beloved celebrities from us. We thought nothing could rival the pain of losing Dolly Parton, but now comes the news that Patrick Stewart has passed away. Stewart, of course, rose to prominence as the lead of Star Trek: The Next Generation in the ‘80s and ‘90s, before going on to headline Fox’s X-Men movies. But even those two venerable franchises are just a taste of Stewart’s brilliant and prolific acting career.
As we come to terms with this profound loss, let’s take a look back at Stewart’s most memorable roles over the years, covering some of cinema’s most iconic heroes and a few dastardly villains for good measure.
Casting Patrick Stewart as Professor Charles Xavier had to have been one of the easiest layups in Hollywood history. He’s a famously bald man with a penchant for mentoring up-and-coming heroes with rousing monologues. That’s not to say that Stewart didn’t continuously bring his A-game to the various X-Men movies, especially whenever he shared the screen with Ian McKellen’s Magneto.
We particularly cherish his late-career turn in 2017’s Logan, where he displayed a new level of frailty and regret. And as much as we’ll miss the actor, it’s comforting to know we’ll get one last opportunity to see him play the role in Avengers: Doomsday.
The I, Claudius miniseries might have been the most stacked ensemble cast in TV history. It really says something that Stewart stands out so well among that group – Derek Jacobi, Siân Phillips, Brian Blessed, John Hurt! – despite his relatively young age. Yes, it’s more than a little surreal seeing him with a full head of hair, but Stewart truly owns the role of Roman soldier Sejanus.
We’re so used to seeing Stewart play morally upright heroes like Captain Picard and Professor X that it’s always something of a shock to see him cast as a villain instead. Stewart was cast very much against type as a Neo-Nazi skinhead ringleader in this 2015 action-thriller from director Jeremy Saulnier, and that’s what makes the role stand out. Stewart is chilling here, bringing a calm but palpable sense of danger to every scene.
Before Josh Brolin brought master swordsman Gurney Halleck to life on the big screen, there was Stewart’s version. He may be best remembered for sauntering across the desert battlefield while holding a pug, but Stewart delivered a memorable performance all the same in this campier take on the Frank Herbert novel. You can immediately understand why the warriors of House Atreides would follow their captain into battle without question.
Stewart showed us a very Ahab-like side of Captain Picard in 1996’s Star Trek: First Contact, so it’s only fitting that he would go on to actually play the obsessive sea captain in a TV movie version of Moby Dick. As you’d expect, Stewart is phenomenal in the role, earning both Golden Globe and Emmy nominations for his performance.
سەرچاوەی فەرمی بە زمانی ئینگلیزی: https://www.ign.com/articles/patrick-stewarts-best-roles-in-movies-and-tv
