After a show releases, it is common for stories that range from hilarious to odd to come out years after, and for Star Trek: The Next Generation, it appears Captain Picard could have worn a wig.
It appears the final season of Picard aired its last episode in April 2023, titled The Last Generation, and months after, Patrick Stewart, who plays the decorated Space Captain, revealed a story regarding his initial audition for Star Trek: The Next Generation. According to Insider, his hair had to be flown to Los Angeles by itself, so Stewart wasn’t sure whether it flew in first class or not. The excerpt comes from Patrick Stewart’s new Memoir, Making It So, which was published on October 3.
The situation somehow gets weirder as Patrick Stewart’s wife (at the time), Sheila Falconer, had to prepare the wig for the flight. Stewart wrote in Making It So, “Sheila diligently retrieved my ‘audition wig’ from its space in my wardrobe and boxed it up, whereupon a British Airways representative collected it and placed it on a later flight to Los Angeles,” continuing with “I do not know if my hairpiece flew first class. But by Sunday, it had arrived, and I drove back to LAX to retrieve it. It was packed in my briefcase when I drove to the Paramount Studios lot on Monday morning.”
While the mystery of whether Sir Patrick Stewart’s wig had flown first class may not ever be solved, it’s clear Picard appears bald in every scene during the runtime of Star Trek: The Next Generation and the follow-up, Star Trek: Picard. Stewart mentions after the audition, they came to send him off after only one scene. After the executives left, Patrick says, “When the door closed, Joy began jumping up and down gleefully. ‘You know why they did that?’ she said. ‘They wanted to see what you looked like without the hairpiece. And I think they liked what they saw!'”
The rest fans can say is history, as Patrick Stewart appeared in seven seasons of The Next Generation and the spin-off Star Trek: Picard for three seasons. Fans can get more of these stories from the man himself by taking a look at the new memoir, Making It So. Better yet, the audiobook of Making It So is available, and Patrick Stewart himself narrates it, so that may be the best option for Trekkies looking for maximum immersion.
