Making It So: A Memoir

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The ceremony, which took place in California, was officiated by Sir Ian McKellen, a man Stewart “fell in love with” while they worked together on the X-Men films.

Making It So by Patrick Stewart | Waterstones

He also revealed that a book tour is in early development, where he expects to travel around promoting Making It So; more details are expected to become available closer to the book’s October release date. I was braced for a ghost written tome, and was delighted when it was apparent from the first page that was not to be the case. An informal way of finding out more about the production, the actor's process and what it's like to work for the RSC.

As a huge Star Trek fan of course I wanted to read about Patrick Stewart playing Captain Picard, but this book is more than that. This is a sweet story of his childhood growing up in Yorkshire, then his move to the stage acting, and finally Hollywood.

Making It So: A Memoir – Special Edition with Postcard

He leaves out a lot of his personal life, which may be a choice driven by a desire for privacy about his previous marriages and children, but I suspect it is in part a reflection of his primary focus having been his acting career rather than his family. Most of the book is tedious, like a resume with very little insight into life or reflection on the important historical events of his life.As Stewart bluntly puts it, “I had cheated on my wife with a younger woman – again – and there is no getting around that. While his prominent screen roles such as Star Trek and X-Men are discussed at the appropriate points, fans who are hoping for a deep dive into Captain Picard and Professor X will not find it here. The tickets will be in pre-allocated seats with 10 tickets held in the Swan Theatre and 20 seats in the Royal Shakespeare Theatre every Friday. But Friday nights, the drinking through the weekend would begin, which made weekends always perilous, never fun.

Patrick Stewart’s Memoir, MAKING IT SO, Arrives in October Patrick Stewart’s Memoir, MAKING IT SO, Arrives in October

Acting is vital to the range of experience all people have’: Patrick Stewart as Prospero in The Tempest the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in 2006. Once, Alf hit Gladys on the head with a pint glass, leaving her “barely conscious” and “bleeding heavily”. Stewart’s father, Alfred, was a Dunkirk veteran plagued by PTSD and alcoholism, whose brutish sway scarred Patrick and his younger brother Trevor for years.

Stewart jokes that he almost began his memoir with the words “Once upon a time,” such is the fairytale nature of his life story. Come down the travelators, exit Sainsbury's, turn right and follow the pedestrianised walkway to Crown Walk and turn right - and Coles will be right in front of you. Patrick Stewart had in mind how he wanted the final scene in Star Trek: Picard to go but sadly it was never shot. The author has always been first and foremost a stage actor, and much of the book is about his theater work. Fans of the X-Men film series may find his reminisces of the franchise perfunctory but it is understandable given that he spent a lot of downtime on set developing his now legendary friendship with fellow knighted thespian Ian McKellan.

Patrick Stewart: dark confessions - The Telegraph Making It So by Patrick Stewart: dark confessions - The Telegraph

I was also aware he had been a big deal in theatrical circles, even though I had never had an opportunity to attend a performance. Thatcher was the first person to reduce subsidies offered to theatres,” he says, “and it’s just got worse. Stewart left home at 17 – he had received a scholarship to attend the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School – and he never lived in Mirfield again. I have followed his career since from a respectful distance, and when I learned he was writing his memoir, I was over the moon with excitement.

Definitely one of the best autobiographies I’ve read but be warned, if you’re not a theatre fan he spoils key scenes and endings of some of Shakespear’s works. He generously shares photographs -- and is sure to include the ones to which he makes special allusion in the text. The episode focused on his father’s position as a sergeant major in the British army’s Parachute regiment. One of Stewart’s friends wore wellington boots to school, without socks, no matter the season – there was no alternative.