Draft:Making It So

Making It So: A Memoir is a 2023 book by Patrick Stewart. The memoir describes Stewart's life from an actor in Shakespeare plays to his famous role as Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek: The Next Generation, with the title being a reference to that character's motto ("make it so"). He rejected offers from ghostwriters in order to write the memoir himself.

Summary

Stewart was born in Mirfield, where he grew up in a working class household. His father, after being demobolized from the army, became an alcoholic and would abuse his wife. Stewart and his brother would intervene in the altercations to prevent their father from hurting their mother. As a young man, Stewart worked as a journalist and in sales at a furniture store. He pursues his ambition of acting on the side, before applying to a drama school and earning a full ride scholarship. Stewart works in local theatres before unexpectedly receiving an offer to work small roles on a tour with The Old Vic for Twelfth Night, The Lady of the Camellias, and Duel of Angels, where he is the target of workplace bullying. Stewart later gets hired by the Royal Shakespeare Company, where he works for 14 years. He gets married and has two children. While visiting a professor in Los Angeles, Stewart performs some extracts from Shakespeare in a lecture open to both students and the public. This performance led to Paramount Pictures considering him for the Star Trek: The Next Generation cast. His initial meeting with Gene Roddenberry does not go well, but he is chosen for the role of Captain Jean-Luc Picard despite Roddenberry's objections.

Stewart was unfamiliar with Star Trek prior to the casting and prepares by watching the first four films. He has difficulty adjusting to behavioural norms in episodic television but manages the transition with help from other members of the cast. The 1988 Writers Guild of America strike prompts uncertainty about the serie's future after the first season but filming resumes after it ends. Stewart lives frugally, renting a unit in a subdivided house and driving a Honda to work. These choices are derided by his Hollywood colleagues. After filming Captain's Holiday, he invites the actress Jennifer Hetrick over for a glass of wine and the two have sex. Shortly afterwards, Stewart and his wife get divorced. His daughter distances herself, but he remains in contact with his son. They act together in one episode, The Inner Light, where his son plays the role of his fictional son. After Star Trek: The Next Generation finishes, Stewart acts in other film and theatre roles. He gets married and then divorced a second time. Stewart is also knighted by Queen Elizabeth II.

Reception

The book was described as demonstrating how Stewart reflects upon his career with some insecurity and was "surprise[d] at his own successes" in a review for The New York Times. Stewart's writing was praised as "personable prose" in The Washington Post, with the review also stating that it was too long at "several hundred pages". Lisa Dillon criticized the book for its depiction of their relationship. Stewart was interviewed by The Globe and Mail about the memoir, where he discussed subjects contained within it such as his interpersonal conflict with Gene Roddenberry.