Patrick Stewart's career is bookended by The Bard. As a child in growing up poor in northern England, Stewart and his family lived in fear of his his violent father. Young Patrick would often seek refuge in the family outhouse, the one place that was quiet enough to read. There, lost in his countryman Shakespeare's words written three and half centuries prior, Stewart could scarcely have suspected where those eternal lines would someday take him. First, Stewart (or "P-Stew" to his friends-- if you have to ask yourself if it's cool to thus address him, it most certainly is not) heeded the call of the stage. For decades, he trod the boards, taking whatever roles he could snag but always circling back to Shakespeare. While his résumé continued to grow along with his reputation, broader fame and success eluded him until he was in his late forties. In 1987, he reluctantly traveled to Los Angeles for the lead role in a Star Trek reboot. Here, "P-Stew" grew from what the Los Angeles Times initially called "an unknown British Shakespearean actor" into immortality as Captain Jean Luc Picard in "Star Trek: The Next Generation." Finally able to pay his bills, Stewart's success only snowballed from there. In addition to four Star Trek movies, Stewart further cemented his place in the Hollywood firmament with his portrayal of Professor Xavier in the "X-Men" franchise. Earlier this year, in those innocent days before social distancing, Stewart found himself featured on a CBS News special. There, he engaged "CBS This Morning"'s Tony Dokoupil in a showdown across a 9' X 5' table. While his forehand does little but awkwardly pop the ball up, Stewart's backhand was in total command, chop-blocking like Koki Niwa with some sinister sidespin for good measure. Dokoupil, clearly outclassed, kept dumping his would-be returns into the net. Like his character Professor Xavier, Stewart could not help but get in Dokoupil's head a little bit. "This is match point," Stewart solemnly stated to his already intimidated adversary. "I won't say championship point, but match point, because I'm just trying to convey that there's a little significance about this moment." Right on cue, Dokoupil buried his last shot in the net. A wide-ranging display of emotions ensued. "Great game," crowed an exultant Stewart. "I was thinking about jumping the net. But I think that would've been a little bit too challenging." (At 79, Stewart is still in such excellent shape that such a gymnastic display certainly seems plausible.) "Yeah," stewed Dokoupil. "I was thinking about throwing the racket." While Stewart has certainly done well for himself, he always longed to return to the stage, bringing Shakespeare's words to life for the next generation. Now, on forced hiatus due to the quarantine, he has taken to reading one of Shakespeare's sonnets online every day, both as a public service and a way to stay in touch with his roots. As in his turbulent youth, Sir Patrick Stewart still finds escape and fulfillment in the words of William Shakespeare. Now, however, he does so with a profundity of comprehension brought forth by his seven decades of immersion in The Globe Theatre, not to mention eight decades of life on an unpredictable globe. "So long lives this," as "P-Stew" could easily parrot back to The Bard in reference to his own illustrious career, "and this gives life to thee." Now he just needs to work on that forehand.

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