Working With William Shatner On Star Trek: Generations Was A Pleasant Surprise For Patrick Stewart
The final episode of "Star Trek: The Next Generation," called "All Good Things...," aired on May 23, 1994, bringing seven seasons of a highly successful TV show to a close. The feature film "Star Trek: Generations" was filmed on some of the same "Next Generation" sets, and was shot almost immediately after "All Good Things..." wrapped. The film was released on November 18 that same year. "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" was already on the air at that point, and only took a break from June to September of 1994, meaning Trekkies didn't really have to wait very long to see their favorite show on the big screen.
Curiously, "Star Trek: Generations" was fixated on themes of "passing the torch," and the film's screenwriters invented a complex time-travel conceit to get Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) and Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner) together on screen at the same time. Thanks to an idly wandering temporal nexus, the two were able to meet, travel to Veridian III, and take turns punching Malcolm McDowell. This plot was curious as the original "Star Trek" came to an effective close in 1991 with the release of "Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country," and "Next Generation" had clearly emerged as its own entity. There was no longer a need to "pass the torch."
Regardless, Shatner and Stewart met inside the Nexus and enjoyed an on-screen team-up fistfight together.
In his new autobiography, "Making It So: A Memoir," Stewart talked a little bit about filming with Shatner, and how the actor, despite a reputation for treating his co-stars badly, was actually a delightful person to work with.
This wasn't goodbye
Stewart recalls the fast turnaround between the last episode of "Next Generation" and the start of "Generations." He also expressed some regret that the film didn't turn out as well as he had hoped, feeling that the story wasn't anything different than what might have been covered on the TV show. He also, at least initially, balked at the idea of including Shatner in a NextGen movie, as the studio seemed to be displaying a lack of faith in the material. Stewart wrote:
"But it does highlight the notable pairing of Jean-Luc Picard and Captain James T. Kirk, who, by some writerly trick of extradimensional logic, is allowed to coexist with his successor in his full brown-haired, middle-aged virility. Up to this point, Bill Shatner had been relatively cold to TNG, professing to the press that he'd barely watched any of it, and I was a little disappointed that the producers and writers had decided to insert Kirk into our first movie — it made me feel that they didn't trust the TNG cast to carry a film by ourselves."
But Shatner proved to be a delight. The two actors, after all, had the common experience of more or less leading a "Star Trek" series. They had also both appeared at "Star Trek" conventions and had likely met a lot of the same people in those ultra-long autograph-signing con lines. They also both had their start in classical theater, having experience with Shakespeare. Stewart played Shylock at the Old Vic in 1965, while Shatner played Duke of Gloucester at the 1956 Stratford Shakespeare Festival (taking over for an ailing Christopher Plummer). One might wish to hear the two actors' conversation.
'It was ... fun'
About William Shatner, Stewart wrote:
"I ended up eating my words, for Bill was a pleasure to work with, open and generous, and his death scene is moving. In the film, Picard and Kirk team up to foil a plan by the movie's villain, Tolian Soran, who was played by Malcolm McDowell, a long way from his days as a Royal Shakespeare Company walk-on background actor. Kirk and Picard succeed in locking down Soran's deadly space probe, but not before Kirk makes the ultimate sacrifice to do so, incurring fatal wounds."
Kirk clung onto a collapsing iron catwalk as it plummetted toward a boulder. Kirk died, speaking to Picard. His last words, Stewart recounts, were "It was ... fun." Then, as the life drained from him, he uttered, "Oh my." Stewart recalled "Our fans loved that Kirk died virtually in Picard's arms, even as they grieved for their original captain."
Some Trekkies were excited enough to see "Next Generation" characters on the big screen that they were happy to overlook the "passing the torch" plot and some of the film's clunkier writing. The film isn't particularly beloved these days, currently sporting a mere 48% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes. But in 1994, it felt like a miniature event for many people, including this author. It's nice to know that Shatner and Stewart got along and that they had chemistry both on and off the screen. Two Trek legends, at the very least, had a blast filming together.