In his final interview before his death, Patrick Stewart said he never wanted to retire from acting.
Speaking with TV Insider in July to celebrate the 60th anniversary of Star Trek, the actor discussed the projects on his slate, including his narration of Shakespeare’s sonnets for an audiobook and the reprisal of his X-Men role of Prof. Charles Xavier in Avengers: Doomsday, which will be his last film.
“As any actor my age will tell you, there are fewer and fewer available roles as we get older,” Stewart said. “That being said, I still continue to receive interesting offers and I love being challenged by new work, like voicing a pig’s head in Riz Ahmed‘s brilliant new series Bait.”
He added, “I can’t imagine ever officially ‘retiring.’ I’ll always and forever be an actor.”
Stewart died Wednesday at his home in Los Angeles at 86 following “a brief and poignant journey with Alzheimer’s disease and Lewy body dementia,” longtime spokesperson Kelly Bush Novak announced.
“He has been held in the warm embrace of family and friends, surrounded by live music, prayer, tears, laughter and the kind of profound emotion that only he could inspire after a lifetime of devotion to us all,” Bush Novak wrote. “We will forever cherish the peaceful ease and reflection on his face, an enduring reminder of his invincible grace.”
Tributes from Stewart’s co-stars poured in after his death was announced from the likes of Kevin Feige, William Shatner, Seth MacFarlane, Hugh Jackman, Minnie Driver, Rebecca Romijn and Famke Janssen.
Elsewhere in his final interview with TV Insider, the Emmy nominee reflected on the significance of his Star Trek character, Captain Jean-Luc Picard: “Without question, Jean-Luc is the most significant role of my career. And I will be forever grateful to have had the opportunity to be a part of what is now such a historic franchise.”