Jean-Luc Picard
Jean-Luc Picard is a fictional character in the Star Trek franchise, most often seen as the commanding officer of the Federation starship. Played by Patrick Stewart, Picard has appeared in the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation and the premiere episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, as well as the feature films Star Trek Generations, Star Trek: First Contact, Star Trek: Insurrection, and Star Trek: Nemesis. He is also featured as the central character in the show Star Trek: Picard.
Casting and design
After the success of the contemporary Star Trek feature films, a new Star Trek television series featuring a new cast was announced on October 10, 1986. Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry named Picard for the twin brothers Auguste Piccard and Jean Piccard, 20th-century Swiss scientists.Patrick Stewart, who has a background in live theater at the Royal Shakespeare Company, was initially considered for the role of Data. In the early 1970s, UCSB professor Homer Swander had recruited Stewart to help teach American college students about William Shakespeare. It was because of this connection that in 1986, Stewart was visiting UCLA to assist professor David Rodes with a series of public lectures on Shakespeare. At one of those lectures, producer Robert H. Justman immediately recognized that Stewart was the ideal candidate for Picard.
Roddenberry originally did not want to cast Stewart as Picard; he had envisioned an actor who was "masculine, virile, and had a lot of hair". Roddenberry's first choice was Stephen Macht, and it took "weeks of discussion" with Justman, Rick Berman, and the casting director to convince him that "Stewart was the one they had been looking for to sit in the captain's chair"; Roddenberry agreed after auditioning every other candidate for the role. Other actors considered included Yaphet Kotto, Patrick Bauchau, Roy Thinnes and Mitchell Ryan. Kotto turned down the role due to concern about shifting his career to television after a prolific film career; he later called it a "wrong decision". Edward James Olmos was offered the role but was not interested.
Stewart was uncertain why the producers would cast "a middle-aged bald English Shakespearean actor" as captain of the Enterprise. He had his toupee delivered from London to meet with Paramount executives, but at his arrival to the offices Roddenberry ordered him to remove the "awful looking" hairpiece. Justman says those present were thrilled by Stewart's voice and elaborates: "Wonderful annunciation that he had. It made everything seem better and more exciting, more intense and entrancing." Roddenberry sent Stewart C. S. Forester's Horatio Hornblower novels, saying the Picard character was based on Hornblower, but Stewart was already familiar with the character, having read the books as a teenager.
As the series progressed, Stewart exercised more control over the character's development. By the time production began on the first Next Generation film, "it was impossible to tell where Jean-Luc started and Patrick Stewart ended", and by the fourth film, Stewart stated:
However, Stewart stated that he is not nearly as serious or brooding as his alter ego.
Stewart also stated, "One of the delights of having done this series and played this role is that people are so attracted to the whole idea of Star Trek... several years after the series has ended... I enjoy hearing how much people enjoyed the work we did... It's always gratifying to me that this bald, middle-aged Englishman seems to connect with them". Stewart has commented that his role has helped open up Shakespeare to science fiction fans. He has noted the "regular presence of Trekkies in the audience" whenever he plays theater, and added: "I meet these people afterwards, I get letters from them and see them at the stage door... And they say, 'I've never seen Shakespeare before, I didn't think I'd understand it, but it was wonderful and I can't wait to come back.'"
Depiction
Jean-Luc Picard was introduced on television in 1987, in the debut episode "Encounter at Farpoint" of Star Trek: The Next Generation. In the show, he is the captain of a crewed spacecraft of the fictional organization Starfleet as it visits various exoplanets and aliens within and away from its governing United Federation of Planets. It is set in the late 24th century, and Picard must balance the challenges of people and technology. As a character in the Star Trek franchise, Picard appears in various books, comics, computer games, and films throughout the 1990s and a variety of merchandise. He is portrayed as being deeply moved by a desire to explore the universe and with a strong sense of duty; however, he has misgivings about not having a family and difficulty interacting with children. Some of his interests, as presented by the show, include space exploration, Shakespeare, and archaeology.The close-knit crew of the Enterprise provides his main friendships as they travel. Notably, he builds very long-lasting friendships with his first officer William T. Riker, tactical officer Worf, counselor Deanna Troi, helmsman-turned-chief engineer Geordi La Forge, and science officer Data. Picard is also occasionally depicted as having subtle romantic tension with the ship's head doctor, Beverly Crusher, widow of his former crewmate and best friend Jack. Towards the end of the timeframe of The Next Generation he acquires a protégée, Ro Laren, but she defects to the terrorist organization Maquis, betraying him.
Notable episodes featuring the Jean-Luc Picard character include "The Best of Both Worlds", "Yesterday's Enterprise", "Family", "All Good Things...", "Tapestry", and "The Inner Light". Actor Patrick Stewart noted of the character "During these past years, it has been humbling to hear many stories about how The Next Generation brought people comfort, saw them through difficult periods in their lives or how the example of Jean-Luc inspired so many to follow in his footsteps, pursuing science, exploration and leadership..."
Television series
Jean-Luc Picard was born to Maurice and Yvette Picard in La Barre, France, on July 13, 2305. As a child, he dreamed of joining Starfleet. He and the rest of his family speak English, with UK English dialects—the French language having become obscure by the 24th century, as mentioned in the Next Generation episode "Code of Honor". In the first season of The Next Generation, Picard was depicted as having a special pride in being French, though this was dropped by the second season. Picard also has a number of British habits, including the regular consumption of Earl Grey tea, a fondness for Shakespeare, riding horses with English tack and a knowledge of such British songs with Royal Navy associations as "A British Tar" and "Heart of Oak". The young Picard failed his first Starfleet Academy entrance exam and, upon admission, met with numerous ethical and scholastic difficulties during his cadet career, but went on to flourish, developing a lifelong passion for archaeology, and he became the first freshman to win the Academy marathon. Shortly after graduation, Picard was stabbed in the heart by a Nausicaan, leaving the organ irreparable and requiring replacement with a parthenogenetic implant; this proved near-fatal later. Ensign Picard's first posting was on the USS Reliant, later serving as first officer aboard the USS Stargazer, which he later commanded. During that time, he performed a warp-speed battle tactic that would become known as the Picard Maneuver.Depicted as deeply moral, highly logical, and intelligent, Picard is a master of diplomacy and debate who resolves seemingly intractable issues between multiple, sometimes implacable parties with a Solomon-like wisdom. Though such resolutions are usually peaceful, Picard is also shown using his remarkable tactical cunning in situations when it is required. Picard has a fondness for detective stories, Shakespearean drama, and archaeology. His catchphrases are "Make it so" and "Engage", but also "Tea, Earl Grey, hot" when ordering from the computer's replicator.
Star Trek: The Next Generation depicts Picard's command of the USS Enterprise. The pilot episode shows the ship's mission to investigate a problem at Farpoint Station, which becomes sidetracked when an entity known as Q makes Picard "representative" in a trial charging humanity with being a "dangerously savage child-race". Picard persuades Q to test humanity, and Q chooses as the test's first stage the crew's performance at Farpoint. The trial "ends" seven years later, in the series finale, when humanity is absolved by Picard's demonstration that the species has the capacity to explore the "possibilities of existence".
The third season finale, "The Best of Both Worlds, Part I", depicts Picard being assimilated by the Borg to serve as a bridge between humanity and the Borg ; Picard's assimilation and recovery are a critical point in the character's development, and provided backstory for the film Star Trek: First Contact and the sequel series Star Trek: Picard, and the development of Benjamin Sisko, the protagonist of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine in the series premiere "Emissary." Stewart asked Roddenberry to keep Picard a Borg for a few more episodes beyond the third season finale, as he thought that would be more interesting than simply restoring Picard in Part II. It is later revealed in First Contact that parts of Borg machinery were removed from inside Picard, but that he retains traumatic memories, lingering neurological aftereffects of assimilation. Another aftereffect is the parietal lobe disorder Irumodic syndrome, revealed in Star Trek: Picard third season to be caused by Borg alterations in his genome.
The fourth season episode "Family" reveals that Picard has a brother, Robert, who took charge of the family vineyards in La Barre after Picard joined Starfleet. Robert and his wife have a young son, René. In the film Star Trek Generations, Picard is devastated to learn that Robert and René have both died in a fire, and worse, the loss makes him the last of the Picard family, until the events of Star Trek: Picard.
File:2014-05-26_Replica_of_'Ressikan_flute'_by_Morgan_Gendel_IMG_1458.jpg|thumb|Morgan Gendel's replica of the Ressikan flute used by Picard in "The Inner Light", for which Gendel wrote the story and co-wrote the teleplay
An encounter with an alien probe causes Picard to become trapped in another life, the life of a scientist on his dying homeworld, in the Hugo Award-winning fifth season episode "The Inner Light". The episode has a scene where Picard plays an alien flute, which was critically acclaimed as one of the best scenes in the series. When the flute went to auction in 2006, it was suggested it could be acquired for , but it went for $48,000. The flute reappears as a symbol of Picard's brief romantic bond with one of his officers, Lieutenant Commander Nella Daren, in the sixth season episode "Lessons", which shows Picard's melancholic struggles with maintaining a romantic life as a starship captain.
Picard made his final appearance in Star Trek: The Next Generation on broadcast television with the seventh season and series finale "All Good Things...", which was watched by over 30 million viewers.