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Images and transcript from The Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn
Original broadcast: May 12, 2004
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(Cheers and applause)
Patrick: The hair!
Craig: We're going to get to that. A lot to talk about. Lot to talk about.
Patrick: (to audience) Thank you. Thank you, very much.
Craig: Including the fact that you grew out your hair for that role.
Patrick: Uh-huh.
Craig: We'll get to that. Good to see you again.
Patrick: And are you, Craig. It's always good.
Craig: Thank you. Good. Now, your voice -- I love it, people love it. I didn't know this -- I mean, I should've; I should've done more research over the years, when I've interviewed you -- but, you do a lot of voice-over with that mellifluous voice.
Patrick: Uh, I do some, yes. It's a pleasant, uh, aspect of my career.
Craig: Uh, heh. And did you always know...
Patrick: What does that smile mean? What was that, "Uh, heh"? Yeah, I know what you thought!
(Laughter)
Craig: I thought you were going to say it's a pleasant voice. I thought you were going to compliment your voice. Then you said it's a pleasant aspect of your career.
Patrick: I'm sorry, then I do you a disfavor. I thought you were going to say, "Hey, it's because of the money!"
Craig: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
(Laughter)
Craig: Isn't that... You're an artist, you sold out.
Patrick: You saw that clip!
Craig: But, no one knows you're doing it. No one knows it's... They don't go, "There's Patrick Stewart doing the beer commercial." No one knows that.
Patrick: You don't think they notice?
Craig: They notice, but they don't think you're selling out, because you're not showing your face. You know what I'm saying? You're not showing...
Patrick: (Heavy sigh)
Craig: Okay, I'm done.
(Laughter)
Craig: Now, let's talk about voice-over. Tell the young people what it's about. I mean, the direction you get, is it irritating, from some of these people? Or, they just let you go because you're an expert?
Patrick: No, they never let you just go. There's always direction. But, it's my policy -- particularly if I'm working with a new agency; or a new product; or a new director, "client" I think they call them -- it's my policy that I always say, when we meet for the first time, "Look, you've been working on this campaign for six months, a year; I'm the last element to be put into it -- tell me what you want. Direct me. Give me line readings," you know, "Give me notes. Anything. I'm here to be told. If you don't tell me, I can't give you what you want."
Craig: Wow. If you're going to act like... They must be paying you a lot, if you're going to let them just tell you exactly what to do.
(Laughter. Stewart pauses.)
Craig: Okay, I'm sorry. Go ahead. I'm sorry.
Patrick: It's just that, no matter what it is I do, I'm a professional, Craig.
Craig: Professional. Yes.
Patrick: And, I like to do... (laughs)
(Laughter)
Patrick: I like to do the best job I can. You know, it's not a matter of just sitting there in a chair, and asking celebrities questions!
(Cheers and applause)
Craig: (to audience) Stop that!
Patrick: Oh, no. Oh, no. No, siree.
Craig: All right. So, what kind of direction do they give you?
Patrick: Well, um, first of all, let me say, I do get a lot of direction. In fact, I might say, that I have had more direction from voice-over directors than I have from some legitimate directors on film, or television, or stage, or whatever.
Craig: Wow.
Patrick: But, they do get a little, kind of flamboyant, and sometimes contradictory. I do remember, quite recently, actually, a director saying to me, "All right, romance us. Seduce us. Sexy. We want to love you. Come on." Everything. So, I did. I won't do it for you now.
(Laughter)
Craig: Thank you. Thank you.
Patrick: You won't pay me to do it! And, then he said -- there is always then a silence, while they discuss it -- "Okay, now, we want severe; hard; cruel; be tough; be relentless."
Patrick: Okay, and so I do that. And then there's a long silence; and then he said, "Okay, how about something in the middle?"
Craig: In the middle of sexy, and then stern and tough?!
Patrick: But, you know, it's... Seriously, it is fascinating because you're being pushed around, and, as an actor, you're being -- even though maybe what you're saying isn't Shakespeare -- but, you're having to exercise your imagination, and your technique, and skills.
Craig: Yeah. We have something, right here. Is this one you did, Goodyear tires? Did you do that?
Patrick: Yes.
Craig: This is actual text. Show us what a voice-over guy would do. Show us what you -- how you read that. Don't do the sexy one, please. (Laughter)
Patrick: Which one do you want?
Craig: I want the stern -- I want the, uh...
Patrick: (reading the card) Wow, this is tricky, isn't it? This is a difficult one.
Craig: Do you remember how you read that?
Patrick: All right, I'll just try and wing it. "Assurance in rain..." Oh, I whistled, didn't I? Did you hear that?
(Laughter)
Craig: You're fired. You're fired!
Patrick: Cut! Cut! Cut!
Craig: Try it again.
Patrick: The great thing about it is you always get a second chance, Craig. "Assurance in rain means Goodyear's deeply carved aqua-chutes propel water away from your tread. Assurance on ice means Goodyear's interlocking treads deliver gripping power!"
Craig: Yeah!
(Cheers and applause)
Patrick: (to audience) Thank you.
(Stewart rises and bows)
Craig: "The Lion in Winter"...
Patrick: Yes!
Craig: ... I believe is a remake, isn't it?
Patrick: Oh, I wish you wouldn't use that phrase.
Craig: No? What's the term?
Patrick: Well...
Craig: Do-over? What's it called?
(Laughter)
Craig: Sequel? What is it?
Patrick: We are revisiting.
Craig: "Revisiting." (With seeming reverence) Ahhh...
Patrick: (laughs) We are revisiting James Goldman's brilliant screenplay; and people have been saying, "Well, it was a great movie, a memorable movie -- triple Academy Award winner."
(Kilborn holds up a photograph)
Patrick: There he is.
Craig: One of your heroes, right? Peter O'Toole.
Patrick: Oh, yes. From, well... People ask me, "Did you watch the original movie while you were making it?" I was the only member of the creative team -- I was an executive producer, as well -- that didn't watch the original movie. Because, when I was an acting student -- 17, 18, 19, at school -- Peter O'Toole was the young leading actor at the local repertory theater, in the town where I was a student, in Bristol; and I would go every two or three weeks and watch him play Hamlet, the Damon pantomime, George Bernard Shaw, whatever -- and I had never seen a performer like him. He dazzled me.
Patrick: So, when people speak of, oh, John Barrymore, or, "You should've seen Richard Burton when he was on stage" -- my benchmark for brilliant, outstanding, unique talent was always Peter O'Toole. The last thing I needed to do...
Craig: Was to get intimidated, or...
Patrick: ... was to sit down and watch Peter O'Toole filming the role that I was about to make. So, I didn't watch it. But, I remember him because I saw it when it first aired; and he was wonderful, as was Miss Hepburn.
Craig: Yeah. Now, here's... You're with Glenn Close. And (to the audience, about Stewart) this is what I think is impressive, because he's a wonderful actor, but, for the role -- you know how De Niro put on weight for "Raging Bull" -- you actually grew your hair out, which I just think is remarkable.
(Laughter. Kilborn shows a photo of Stewart as King Henry)
Patrick: It's willpower!
(Laughter)
Craig: Yeah, yeah. Just very impressive.
(Applause)
Craig: "Five Questions" when we come back with Patrick Stewart.
Patrick: Captain who?
Craig: Huh?
Patrick: That is "Picard," to you.
Craig: Picard.
Patrick: Thank you.
Craig: Thank you. Um...
(Uneasy pause. Laughter)
Craig: I always wanted to know -- did you... You go to those conventions, right? The "Star Trek"...
Patrick: I have done, yes. I do.
Craig: With the geeky guys. The fans, right?
Patrick: (groans at "geeky") Ohhh.
(Laughter)
Patrick: "Enthusiasts."
Craig: Yeah, yeah. Do they have the memorabilia there, or not? Because I heard...
Patrick: They do. They have, um, what do they call them -- they have whole sections of these centers where traders come, and they sell, and deal, and trade.
Craig: It's expensive, right?
Patrick: It can be. It depends on what you're selling.
Craig: Right. Now, do you own any anything, any memora... Do you own any stuff?
Patrick: (pauses) This is a very sensitive question.
(Laughter)
Patrick: Really. Because, um, I have -- I have all my scripts, all my call sheets, every colored page of rewrites, for seven years of the series. And it's all collected, annotated, all in boxes -- and I told my children it's...
(Clapping)
Patrick: ... it's because I'm going to spend all my money, but I'm going to leave them all the scripts. That's their inheritance. And they can sell it off, a page at a time, on eBay.
(Laughter)
Craig: Wow.
Patrick: But, no, I don't have, I don't have... You know, people, um... Actors have all kinds of things. I actually asked for a costume. I actually offered to buy one of my costumes, from Paramount.
Craig: The, the... Your uniform?
Patrick: Yes, "uniform," sorry. Don't think of it as a costume; my uniform. And I learned they cost about $2000 to make, and I said, "I will give you two-thousand dollars for one of my uniforms," and they refused.
Craig: Wow.
Patrick: So, what most people do is, you know, they just -- as we say in England -- "They fall off the back of the wardrobe lorry." You know. People just took them. But, I couldn't do that.
Craig: You didn't take it?
Patrick: No, I have nothing. It's not true: I have a link of the chain of the bridge that Captain Kirk fell from when he died in the movie Generations.
Craig: Okay.
Patrick: And I have a... I do have a couple of little, um, what were they called...? (gestures toward his lapel)
Audience member: Communicator.
Patrick: Communicator! Thank you, very much. Fifteen years I did this movie! Communicators. Because, you know, I would take it off and forget to put it in my pocket. So, I do have two of those.
Craig: Okay. Well, I think it's nice that you're honest, and you didn't steal anything. I think that's commendable.
Patrick: I couldn't do that.
(Applause)
Craig: It's time for "Five Questions." Here we go.
(Cheers)
Patrick: Yes.
Craig: According to Barry Manilow -- this is geography -- the Copacabana was the hottest spot north of what city? The Copacabana, the hottest spot north of...?
Patrick: Havana.
Craig: Yes, that's correct.
Craig: Ten seconds on the clock. Besides the "X-Men," name 5 superheroes in 10 seconds. Are you ready?
Patrick: Umm. Okay.
Craig: Go.
Patrick: Batman, Robin, the Hulk, Wolverine, Barry Manilow.
Craig: Yeah. Oh, all right, this is experimental -- I need you to close your eyes. Close your eyes. I want you to inhale and tell me if you're smelling pancakes or waffles. Okay, I'll tell you when. They're right -- there's the plate, touching your chin.
Patrick: I can smell maple syrup.
Craig: Is that a pancake, or a waffle?
Patrick: It's a waffle.
(Cheers)
Patrick: Yes!
Craig: (sniffs the waffles) Oh, yeah, that's easy. That's too easy.
Patrick: But, you know, there was no maple syrup there.
Craig: It's vanilly in there. It's very good.
Patrick: Uh-huh.
Craig: Which of these staffers, over here -- you have Goldy, and then you have Chris, and then you have Ian -- which has attended a "Star Trek" convention? They all work here. One of them actually went to a "Star Trek" convention. Is it Goldy, Chris, or Ian?
Patrick: It's Ian.
Craig: That is correct! Ian, right there. How'd you know? How did you know?
Patrick: Um, I know. Just, you know, it's...
Craig: That is funny!
Patrick: It's instinct.
Craig: I need you, now, to really be honest on this last one.
Patrick: I thought there were five. Wasn't that five?
Craig: No, that's four.
Patrick: Oh.
Craig: You really do own one of Picard's uniforms, don't you?
Patrick: No, I don't! No, I do not, Craig. Nothing in my wardrobe.
Craig: That is false, ladies and gentlemen. We have a gift for you -- we have a gift for you, Patrick. There it is.
(A Star Trek uniform is wheeled out on a mannequin. Applause.)
Craig: This is true. It's from Rick Berman.
Patrick: Oh, my gosh.
Craig: (to stagehand) Pull it in here.
(Cheers and applause)
Patrick: Are you serious? This is...
Craig: Now, wait. We got a shot of that?
Patrick: This is for real?
Craig: Yeah. Here's what we have. This is a note -- this is from Rick Berman, the creator of the Star Trek Enterprise: "Patrick, see what happens when you ask for something from Paramount and PROMAX. You should wait at least a week before you try to sell this thing on eBay."
Patrick: (laughs)
(Laughter)
Craig: That's yours. That's a gift.
Patrick: Thank you.
Craig: They say it's worth $20000 right now. Yeah. I can say that, Todd, right? It's worth twenty-thousand dollars right now.
(Audience hoots)
Craig: Okay, wait. "The Lion in Winter", Sunday, May 23rd, on Showtime. Great to see you again. That's yours. You okay?
Patrick: Yes. I'm a little, uh, shocked. Thank you.
Craig: Patrick Stewart!
(Cheers and applause. End of Patrick Stewart's segment.)
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Patrick Stewart Edition Phaser
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