AARP Interview with Patrick Stewart, X-Men Hero, Star Trek Fame

[AARP®] [Real Possibilities] [Sir Patrick Stewart] [Photographed by Nino Muñoz, New York, December 19, 2013] [♪ mellow instrumental music ♪] First of all, I don't believe that I'm 73. Something happened. There was some switch made at some point. Because it feels to me to be absurd. So maybe as a result of that I tend not to behave like a 73 year old. Well, you must understand I lived in California for 17 years. That was a critical time. And almost immediately I fell into that world of taking care of yourself, eating sensibly, drinking lots of fluids, exercising, putting on moisturizer in the mornings— all of those things became part of my life, certainly healthy living and exercise— and I think that's what kicked in at a critical age for me. We're doing better in the UK now, but I think for a long time we were careless about aging. From an actor's point of view, what aging means is that you are building up this bank account of experience. No experience is without its use, and so we store everything away for future reference. And so the longer you live the bigger your bank account of experience. I've said to people in the past, "If you want to know who Patrick Stewart is watch Star Trek Next Generation." I really approve of Jean-Luc Picard. He is a very, very decent individual. Jean-Luc Picard was my life for 7 years. I lived and breathed that man to the extent that there came a point by the second or third season— and we did 7 seasons—when I didn't know where the captain started and Patrick Stewart left off because they became blended. [♪ mellow instrumental music ♪] The world for Charles Xavier and his mutant colleagues is a dangerous and bad place to be. So I wouldn't want to be someone in that world. But he has beliefs—passionate beliefs—about equality and justice and fairness. But of course, these are characteristics of both these 2 guys. It's hard to make comparisons because I love them both, and I feel comfortable with them both. [Produced by Caitlin Elizabeth Peters] [Directed & Edited by Walking Lunch Productions] [AARP®] [Real Possibilities]