Patrick Stewart couldn’t imagine ‘officially’ retiring in final interview before death
Sir Patrick Stewart (Getty Images)
Patrick Stewart said he could not imagine ever “officially ‘retiring’” from acting in a July interview, insisting: “I’ll always and forever be an actor.”
The comments came in a TV Insider interview published a few months before Stewart died on 28 October 2026, aged 86, at his home in Los Angeles.
His longtime spokesperson Kelly Bush Novak confirmed his death the following day, saying: “We announce with great sorrow the passing of Sir Patrick Stewart yesterday at his home in Los Angeles, in the loving care of his beloved wife Sunny, following a brief and poignant journey with Alzheimer’s Disease and Lewy Body Dementia.”
Why Patrick Stewart said he could never retire
In the interview, Stewart spoke frankly about what ageing can mean for performers, while making clear he still wanted to work.
“As any actor my age will tell you, there are fewer and fewer available roles as we get older,” he said.
He added: “That being said, I still continue to receive interesting offers and I love being challenged by new work, like voicing a pig’s head in Riz Ahmed’s brilliant new series Bait.”
Stewart’s career stretched from British theatre to global stardom. He rose through the Royal Shakespeare Company, became a major Shakespeare interpreter, and later turned into a pop culture icon as Captain Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Picard. He also played Professor Charles Xavier in the X-Men films, and was known for voice work across animation and games, as well as his association with progressive causes.
Stewart was preparing to reprise Professor X in Avengers: Doomsday at the time of the interview.
What he said about Picard and Star Trek’s anniversaries
Stewart’s conversation was tied to major franchise milestones, including the 60th anniversary of Star Trek and the upcoming 40th anniversary of The Next Generation.
Looking back, he was clear about what Picard meant to him: “Without question, Jean-Luc is the most significant role of my career. And I will be forever grateful to have had the opportunity to be a part of what is now such a historic franchise.”
The July conversation was Stewart’s final interview before his death.
