Some would call the late Patrick Stewart the poster boy for male pattern baldness and someone who showed that losing your hair isn't the end of the world. He exuded confidence on screen with a shaved look, but as the actor revealed in a past interview, that wasn't the case when he first joined Star Trek: The Next Generation.
Trekkies may remember that Stewart flew his wig last-minute from the U.K. ahead of his audition for The Next Generation, afraid it might impact his casting. Even after, he revealed on Parkinson that he expressed a fear to Gene Roddenberry that playing the role as a bald man would be problematic, because obviously hair loss would be fixed in the future. He said the creator responded perfectly, which gave him the confidence to "boldly go" without his wig:
'No, by the 24th century, no one will care.' It was one of the nicest things that’s ever been said about men like me.
It was a liberating thing for Patrick Stewart to hear, as someone who struggled with male pattern baldness from a very young age. Stewart revealed he started losing the majority of his hair at 19, and he thought it ruined his chance at ever finding love.
Two marriages, two children, and an outpouring of tributes from his former co-stars later, it's clear Stewart had nothing to worry about. Plus, men shaving their heads became a popular trend in later years, though Stewart personally said he wasn't a fan of others doing that:
It was nice for a while when I saw all of these shaved heads, but it began to irritate me, frankly. When somebody has a magnificent head of hair - that, honestly, when I was 19, I would have loved to have had - and they shave it all off, and I feel that somehow they’re kind of infringing on my territory.
The shaved head became his signature, and while I can't say it helped make Picard one of Star Trek's best characters, it certainly didn't hurt! It definitely became a signifier of the character, as a quick search will show that both Picard and Professor X are among the most popular bald characters. That's hardly a surprise, I'm sure, given both characters' relevance in pop culture.
This is one of many stories making the rounds about Patrick Stewart, who continues to show he wasn't that far removed from Captain Picard. I've especially enjoyed the story about his appearance on Top Gear, and how he was so unassuming that the crew initially mistook him for a delivery driver.
I also loved hearing about how Brent Spiner tried to make a bid to host Saturday Night Live, only for them to ask about Stewart instead. I can't help but point out they preferred the actor with a shaved head to one with a full head of hair, though the decision might've had more to do with star power at that point.
I do hope we continue to get stories about Patrick Stewart, as I continue rewatching Star Trek: The Next Generation with my Paramount+ subscription. It's been an incredibly rewarding experience thus far, as I've taken for granted just how much I enjoyed watching this series the first time around.
