Alex Kurtzman almost cried after Patrick Stewart read script for new series

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

It's been quite some time since Patrick Stewart last played Jean-Luc Picard, but the actor will soon be heading into the final frontier once again for a new Star Trek series, and if Alex Kurtzman's reaction is any indication, we could be in for quite the treat. While speaking at the Paleyfest panel for Star Trek: Discovery, Kurtzman provided a brief tease on where they're at with the as-yet-untitled Picard series.

Here’s what I will tell you. I had an amazing experience yesterday. I sat at Patrick’s kitchen table and I heard him read the first episode and I almost cried. It was quite something. He’s at an amazing place in his life. He’s so excited. It’s going to be a very different show from Discovery. The only way this universe, I think, works correctly is if each show is really different and speaks to a different part of Star Trek.

If Patrick Stewart is excited, then so am I. Alex Kurtzman went on to add that the Picard series will be quite different from Star Trek: Discovery. "This is going to be a very thoughtful, psychological portrait in a lot of ways," Kurtzman said. "We all know what Picard means to the world and why he, like so many legendary characters on Star Trek, has endured and what he’s represented. He in some ways has to go through a gauntlet to find that again. Things have changed for him and changed him in some ways, and yet he is so deeply and fundamentally still Picard. We’re thrilled at what we’re going to deliver. I know Patrick is really excited. The cast is coming together beautifully. And I will give you nothing else."

As for who will be joining Patrick Stewart in the series, we know that Santiago Cabrera (Big Little Lies), Michelle Hurd (Daredevil), and Evan Evagora (FANTASY ISLAND) will be series regulars. The details behind Evagora's character aren't known, but Deadline previously claimed to have heard that Cabrera will be playing a skillful thief who is also the pilot of Picard's ship and that Michelle Hurd will be playing a "former intelligence officer who is a brilliant analyst with a terrific memory that has not been affected by her drug and alcohol abuse." Take that with a grain of salt for now until we hear something more official. Hanelle Culpepper, who has helmed several episodes of Star Trek: Discovery, will be directing the first two episodes of the Picard series and production is expected to begin quite soon. The series will debut on CBS All Access late 2019.