Actor Patrick Stewart said the upcoming Star Trek series Picard will reflect the “world of Brexit and Trump” by portraying the show’s fictional United Federation of Planets as less “reliable and trustworthy” than in past series.
The British actor serves as an executive producer on Star Trek: Picard, which is scheduled to debut on CBS All Access on Jan. 23. It marks Stewart’s return to the enduring Star Trek franchise after a 17-year hiatus following Star Trek: Nemesis in 2013.
Stewart, 79, told Variety in a recent interview that he decided to return to the role after such a long period because the world had changed so much, specifically Britain’s decision to leave the European Union, and the election of President Donald Trump.
The new show, Stewart told the trade publication, “was me responding to the world of Brexit and Trump and feeling, ‘Why hasn’t the Federation changed? Why hasn’t Starfleet changed?’ Maybe they’re not as reliable and trustworthy as we all thought.”
Variety reported that Picard portrays the United Federation of Planets — a formerly benevolent union of interstellar planets — as having taken an isolationist turn.
“In a way, the world of Next Generation had been too perfect and too protected,” Stewart said. “It was the Enterprise. It was a safe world of respect and communication and care and, sometimes, fun.”
Stewart is staunch opponent of Brexit and President Trump.
Stewart said in November that he was “embarrassed” to be British, describing the country’s democratic vote to leave the European Union in 2016 as a “disgrace.”
“For the last 35 years, I have been so proud to belong to a country that was part of the European Union,” Stewart said at a Comic-Con event in Paris to promote Picard. “And I am embarrassed to stand here in front of you, representing a country that is seeking to break that invaluable connection.”
Stewart lashed out at President Trump on ABC’s The View in 2017.
“I am now applying for citizenship because I want to be an American, too, because all of my friends in Washington said, ‘There is one thing you can do. Fight, fight, oppose, oppose.’ But I can’t do it because I’m not a citizen,” he said on the show.
Stewart told Variety that he thinks President Trump will be re-elected in November.
“I’m not sure which one of us is in the most trouble,” Stewart said. “I think it’s actually the U.K. I think we’re fucked, completely fucked.”
He told Variety that he holds out hope that “the United States that has given us the Trump administration” can change, but he added, “he will likely get reelected.”
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