Actors Nearly Tapped for Captain Jean-Luc Picard Role Before Patrick Stewart

In
In 2020, an interview was conducted with the Hollywood Reporter.
Actor Patrick Stewart recounted the frustrations he faced.
while collaborating with Gene Roddenberry
The creator of \”Star Trek: The Next Generation,\” Gene Roddenberry, had notable reservations about casting Sir Patrick Stewart as Captain Jean-Luc Picard. He disapproved of Stewart’s bald appearance and his nationality. During visits to the set, Stewart felt unwelcome and barely received guidance from Roddenberry himself. Hoping for insight into the character, Stewart arranged a luncheon discussion with him but found it unproductive; Roddenberry simply suggested reading C.S. Forester\’s Horatio Hornblowernovels, stating dismissively, “It\’s all in there.” This advice proved rather insufficient.

Roddenberry’s dislike of Stewart wasn’t echoed by the broader audience. Captain Picard quickly gained popularity among Star Trek fans who appreciated Stewart’s authoritative portrayal and admired Picard’s inherent intellect and diplomatic skills. Soon enough, fans began debating whether Picard might even surpass Captain Kirk (played by William Shatner) from the classic series as the ultimate starship commander.

However, if Roddenberry and other casting directors had their preferences, another actor would have taken the role of Jean-Luc Picard. On April 13, 1987, Paramount producer John Ferraro sent a memo to Paramount TV president John Pike outlining their preferred list of top candidates for each significant part in “Star Trek: The Next Generation.” This memo included
readily released by Slice of Sci-Fi back in 2006
It included several enjoyable surprises. For instance, it appears that Wesley Snipes was considered for the role of Geordi La Forge.

Although Ferraro’s first pick for Picard was Patrick Stewart, he was also considering Mitch Ryan, Roy Thinnes, Patrick Bauchau, and notably, Yaphet Kotto.

Read more:
All Star Trek Series Ordered from Least Favorite to Most Favorite

Analyzing the Other Actors Who Were Contemplated for the Role of Captain Picard

In 1987, Roy Thinnes may have been most recognizable to science fiction enthusiasts for his leading part in the Larry Cohen series titled \”The Invaders,\” where he played David Vincent, someone who discovers an extraterrestrial plot taking place on our planet. Meanwhile, mainstream viewers probably recognized him from his extensive appearance in 45 installments of \”General Hospital.\” Additionally, he received acclaim for acting in \”The Long Hot Summer\” and featured in movies such as \”Airport 1975\” and \”The Hindenburg.\” He made a brief cameo in Ron Howard’s film \”A Beautiful Mind\” and also showed up in another production.
Three episodes of \”The X-Files\” (as shown above).
Thinness had a fairly dependable track record as a television personality, and his authority and professionalism made him an understandable choice for Paramount.

Mitchell Ryan, known for his role as Greg’s father Edward in the popular show “Dharma & Greg,” was another candidate considered for Picard. Additionally, he appeared in 107 episodes of \”Dark Shadows,\” portraying Burke Devlin during the \’60s. Often recognized as an iconic background figure in television and movies, Ryan accumulated numerous acting credits throughout his career, such as appearing in \”Liar Liar\” alongside Jim Carrey. Compared to Stewart, Ryan had a boisterous presence that leaned towards masculinity, infusing his performances with a dynamic vigor akin to Captain Kirk. Despite his extensive involvement in various projects, Ryan caught attention, leading him to join the Star Trek universe where he portrayed the father of Will Riker (played by Jonathan Frakes) in the \”Next Generation” episode titled \”The Icarus Factor\” which aired on April 24, 1989.

Ryan and Thinnes are Americans, whereas Jean-Luc Picard hails from France. The casting notes do not suggest considering any French performers for this part, though they did mention Belgium’s Patrick Bauchau. Known for roles in both the French New Wave and Germany\’s equivalent movement during the \’60s and early \’70s, Bauchau collaborated with directors like Éric Rohmer and Wim Wenders. In Hollywood circles, he gained recognition primarily through his appearance as Maximilian Largo in “A View to a Kill.” His involvement could have lent a touch of Continental refinement to the character.

Another co-star from the James Bond franchise nearly portrayed Captain Jean-Luc Picard.

On the Picard list was Yaphet Kotto, who starred in \”Alien,\” \” Across 110th Street,\” \”The Running Man,\” and the James Bond film \”Live and Let Die\” (shown above). He also had a leading role in the enduring police drama series \”Homicide: Life on the Street.\” In the early stages of his acting journey, Kotto featured in ten episodes of \”Bonanza,\” fifteen installments of \”Death Valley Days,\” and sixteen appearances on \”Gunsmoke.\” With such extensive work spanning numerous genres and mediums, he represented a significant loss to global cinema as we mourned the passing of immense artistic prowess.
When he passed away in 2021
.

One can observe from Kotto’s filmography that he had considerable experience with science fiction genres. In \”Alien,\” he resided aboard a spaceship and confronted an extraterrestrial being, whereas \”The Running Man\” provided him the opportunity to act within a grim future society.

In 2015, Kotto talked to the Big Issue.
, and they questioned him regarding his near-involvement with \”Star Trek.\” Kotto remembers his rejection clearly and admits to feeling a slight twinge of remorse about it. He elaborated:

\”I think I made some wrong decisions in my life, man. I should have done that, but I walked away. When you\’re making movies, you\’d tend to say no to TV. It\’s like when you\’re in college and someone asks you to the high school dance. You say no.\”

For many decades, TV was seen as a \”lesser\” medium than TV, and film actors tended to stay away from doing TV shows. This was true even as late as 1987, and Kotto didn\’t want to abandon any potential film roles to commit to a 26-episode season of \”Star Trek.\” Kotto is also very, very American, so it\’s unclear if he would have affected a French accent to play Jean-Luc Picard. At the very least, he would have had the appropriate authority.

However, in conclusion, I believe we can all concur that the Captain Picard presented to viewers turned out to be the finest.

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