Patrick Stewart Logan interview
The ending for Charles Xavier is perfect, so Patrick Stewart says he isn't missing the character when leaving the X-men franchise but rather the people he worked with for 17 years. This spontaneous and unexpected decision happened just a few days ago while sitting in a cinema in Berlin watching Logan alongside Hugh Jackman. Stewart notes that saying goodbye to groups you are intimate with while creating movies or plays is part of the job, especially after just finishing a three-year run on stage. While fans connect deeply with characters because he does too, he believes the story is told and over. The real loss will be the working relationships with all these people he respected and loved so much, treating them as friends and colleagues for life. He also compared his own international breakthrough to what Hugh Jackman experienced, citing Star Trek The Next Generation's creation in 1987 as the moment he got his first major opportunity internationally as a performer.
Transcript (en)
Saying goodbye continually to groups of people that you've been very close to, very intimate with, in creating a movie or a play or a television drama, but also to the character that you've been playing. I've just said goodbye to a character I've played for three years on stage, and that was not easy. But it happens to us. We accept that as part of the job. In this case, it was a spontaneous and unexpected decision made sitting in a cinema in Berlin just a few days ago. I saw that interview, Ashley, when you told us on air about that. So what would you miss about being Charles Xavier? Because I know us fans will miss you. That's lovely to hear that there are fans who connect with the characters so well, because I do. Largely, it will not be the character so much, because I think his story is told, it's over, and the ending is perfect. But it will be the working relationship with all the people over these 17 years that I have respected and admired so much. They are friends and colleagues for life. How was it working with Hugh for 17 years? How has he changed as an actor and as a friend? Well, Hugh himself has said that this was his first major opportunity internationally as a performer. I understand that because the same thing happened to me in 1987 when Star Trek The Next Generation was created.
