When you think of Star Trek, three people likely come to mind. William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, and Sir Patrick Stewart. So iconic was Stewart in his role as Captain-Jean Luc Picard that he defined a generation of Star Trek fans.
However, according to his new memoir (thanks, GamesRadar) he nearly turned down the role. Or, his long-time friend Sir Ian McKellen tried to get him to do so.
"When I told him I was going to sign the contract, he almost bodily prevented me from doing so," Stewart wrote. "'No!' he said. 'No, you must not do that. You must not. You have too much important theatre work to do. You can't throw that away to do TV. You can't. No!'"
"There are few people, particularly with regard to acting, whose counsel I trust more than Ian's," Stewart continued. "But this time I had to tell him that I felt theatre would return to my life whenever I was ready for it, whereas an offer of the lead role in an American TV series might never come again."
Of course, it does seem for the best that Stewart took the role, but who do you think could've replaced him if he turned it down?