With Hollywood at a COVID-19 standstill, Patrick Stewart will fill his newfound free time by penning his first autobiography, publishers Gallery Books announced Wednesday.
The still-untitled memoir will detail Stewart’s his childhood in Yorkshire, England, “marked by poverty and domestic violence,” as well as his decades on the British stage before becoming a fixture to American audiences with the roles of Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek: Next Generation and Professor Charles Xavier in the X-Men film series.
“The idea of writing a memoir based on my life and career has been in my mind for several years, but always the demands of work have pushed it into the background,” Stewart said in a statement. “Today there are no demands, nor is there a prediction when there might be. I am caught in the middle of shooting a new series, Star Trek: Picard, and I passionately want to see it through, but in the meantime…what? Well, I have a beautiful study in our house in Los Angeles, sunny and peaceful. I am 80 in a little over two weeks’ time. I have just treated myself to a gorgeous office chair. And… I have the time. But most importantly, I am loving what I am doing, even though I never thought I would or could.”
Stewart will also voice the audiobook of his memoir, which does not yet have a release date. Gallery Books’ Jennifer Bergstrom said in a statement: “No other British working actor enjoys such career variety, universal respect, and unending popularity — as witnessed through his seminal roles and his millions of fans across social media — it goes without saying that his long-awaited memoir will be a blockbuster bestseller.”
