♪ [ CHEERS AND APPLAUSE ] >> Whoopi: WELCOME BACK. HE IS A LEGENDARY STAGE AND SCREEN ACTOR WHO HAS A NEW MEMOIR OUT TODAY CALLED "MAKING IT SO." PLEASE WELCOME MY CAPTAIN, MY CAPTAIN, SIR PATRICK STEWART. [ CHEERS AND APPLAUSE ] ♪ >> Joy: SIR PATRICK. >> NO, NO, NO. PATRICK. THAT WILL DO. YOU DON'T HAVE TO DO THE SIR PART. IT'S NO REQUIRED. >> Sara: BUT YOU HAVE TO BOW WHEN YOU SPEAK TO HIM. >> YES. OH, THANK YOU SO MUCH. YOU'VE BEEN DOING YOUR RESEARCH. >> Whoopi: YOU RECEIVED MANY OFFERS FROM PUBLISHERS OVER THE YEAR TO WRITE YOUR MEMOIR. YOU TURNED THEM DOWN. WHY? >> I HAD NO TIME. I LOVE MY JOB. I ALWAYS HAVE. WORKING, WORKING, WORKING. IT'S SOMETIMES COST ME, PARTICULARLY IN MY FAMILY LIFE. IT COST ME BECAUSE I WASN'T THERE. I WAS WORKING. THEN I HAD NO -- I HAVE TO SAY, I HAVE NO TIME. I CAN'T WRITE THE BOOK. THIS TIME MY AGENT CARTER COHEN CALLED ME AND SAID, LOOK, PATRICK, THERE'S NO WORK. THIS WAS COVID. THERE'S NO WORK. NOBODY'S GOING TO BE OFFERING YOU WORK. YOU'RE NOT GOING TO BE WORKING AT ALL. GIVE IT A SHOT. >> Whoopi: 464 PAGES LATER. >> Sunny: WOW. >> Joy: YOU HAD A ROUGH CHILDHOOD. YOU GREW UP POOR IN NORTHERN ENGLAND IN THE '40s. YOUR FATHER WENT OFF TO WAR. YOU WERE VERY POOR. WHEN YOUR FATHER RETURNED, YOU WRITE HE WAS A WEEKEND ALCOHOLIC, WHICH IS AN ALCOHOLIC. HE PHYSICALLY ABUSED YOUR MOTHER. YOU SAY IT'S TAKEN YEARS OF PSYCHOANALYSIS TO DEAL WITH THE SHAME OF YOUR CHILDHOOD. YOU HAVE NOTHING TO BE ASHAMED OF. >> I KNOW I WAS NOT RESPONSIBLE. YOUNG CHILDREN FEEL THEMSELVES OF BEING GUILTY OF CAUSING SOMETHING. IF I WERE BETTER, IT WOULD BE. THE FIRST FIVE YEARS OF MY LIFE WERE BLISS BECAUSE I HAD NO FATHER. HE WAS AWAY IN THE SECOND WORLD R. I WAS BORN IN 1940. HE WENT TO WAR IN 1939. I VERY RECENTLY DID SOME CALCULATION AND I THINK IT'S VERY POSSIBLE THAT I WAS CONCEIVED THE NIGHT BEFORE HE WENT TO WAR. I THINK SO. IT WOULD FIT ENTIRELY. >> Joy: ONE FOR THE ROAD, YOU KNOW. [ LAUGHTER ] >> I DIDN'T REALIZE IT WAS THIS KIND OF SHOW. >> Joy: NOW YOU KNOW. >> Alyssa: OCCASIONALLY. >> YOU GOT ME. I'M SORRY. MY VOICE GOT VERY SQUEAKY. I THINK IT'S STRESS. >> YOU EVENTUALLY JOINED THE PRESTIGIOUS ROYAL SHAKESPEARE COMPANY IN 1966 SPENDING 14 YEARS AS A FULL-TIME MEMBER. WE HAVE A PICTURE OF YOU PLAYING OBERON IN A 1977 PRODUCTION OF "A MID SUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM." THIS PHOTO HAS GONE VIRAL. I CAN'T ANSWER WHY. YOU SAID YOU NEVER THOUGHT OF YOURSELF AS HANDSOME. >> Sunny: AFTER SEEING THAT PICTURE? >> MY BODY WAS HANDSOME, BUT IT WAS RARE PEOPLE SAW MY BODY IN THAT CONTEXT. >> Sara: MAYBE YOU SHOULD HAVE PLAYED OBERON AGAIN. >> NOW? >> Sunny: YOUR FIRST BIG ON SCREEN ROLE DIDN'T COME UNTIL YOU WERE IN YOUR 40s WHEN YOU WERE CAST AS CAPTAIN JEAN-LUC PICARD IN "STAR TREK THE NEXT GENERATION." YOU WRITE ABOUT THE MOMENT YOU WERE TAKING YOURSELF A BIT TOO SERIOUSLY THAT FIRST SEASON IN 1987. WHAT HAPPENED? >> HE WAS A LEADER AND I HAD PLAYED A LOT OF LEADERS ON STAGE, SHAKESPEAREAN LEADERS SOME OF THEM. I THOUGHT ABOUT THAT AND BROUGHT THAT INTO THE ROLE. I THINK IT MADE ME TOO STIFF, TOO UPRIGHT, TOO UNBENDING AND NOT AS FREED AS THE REST OF THE CAST WERE. I WAS ASTONISHED AT HOW LOOSE AND IMPROVISING JONATHAN AND BRANDON, MARINA AND GATES COULD BE AND MICHAEL. BUT THEN ONE DAY I CALLED THIS MEETING AND SAID, LOOK, WE HAVE A PROBLEM HERE. WE'RE HAVING TOO MUCH DISRUPTION ON THE SET IN FRONT OF THE CAMERA. WE HAVE TO TAKE THIS MUCH MORE SERIOUSLY. THERE'S TOO MUCH FOOLING AROUND. ONE OF MY COLLEAGUES SAID, OH, PATRICK, WE'VE GOT TO HAVE SOME FUN. I SAID, WE ARE NOT HERE TO HAVE FUN! I THINK I MIGHT HAVE THUMPED THE TABLE. THEY ALL JUST LAUGHED. >> Joy: THEN WHAT DID YOU DO WHEN THEY LAUGHED? >> I WALKED OUT. I DID. >> Joy: WHOOPI, DO YOU REMEMBER PATRICK BEING VERY SERIOUS ONSET? >> Whoopi: I GOT THERE THE SECOND YEAR. THEY HAD STRAIGHTENED HIM OUT. >> Alyssa: SIR PATRICK, YOU'VE CROSSED PATHS WITH COUNTLESS FAMOUS PEOPLE, CELEBRITIES, ACTORS THROUGHOUT YOUR CAREER. YOU ADMIT YOU'RE NOT UP TO DATE ON POP CULTURE. YOU WRITE ABOUT A HILARIOUS RUN-IN YOU HAD WITH STING. >> WE WERE WORKING AND ONE DAY THE CAST WAS EXCITEDLY TALKING ABOUT SOMEONE CALLED STING JOINING THE SHOW. HE HAD BEEN CAST. IT MEANT NOTHING TO ME AT ALL. THEN THIS GORGEOUS, NICE GUY TURNED UP ONE DAY, SO RELAXED AND EASY AND FRIENDLY AND COUPLE DAYS AFTERWARDS I WENT OVER TO SIT NEXT TO HIM. WE WERE WAITING FOR LIGHTING TO BE FINISHED OR THE SCENE TO BE DRESSED. I SAID, SO, I UNDERSTAND YOU'RE A MUSICIAN. HE SAID, YEP. I SAID, WHAT DO YOU PLAY? HE SAID, I PLAY BASS. I SAID, YOU KNOW, I NEVER UNDERSTOOD WHY A MUSICIAN WOULD WANT TO CARRY THAT HUGE INSTRUMENT AROUND. WHY NOT JUST PLAY A FLUTE OR SOMETHING? HE SAID -- HE LAUGHED AND SAID, NO, NO, NO. NOT A DOUBLE BASS. A BASS GUITAR. I SAID, OH, GOOD. I SAID, DO YOU PLAY IN A BAND? HE SAID, YES. I SAID, WHAT ARE THEY? HE SAID, I PLAY WITH A POLICE BAND. I SAID, YOU PLAY IN A POLICE BAND? I'M SORRY. I MEAN, IT'S HUMILIATING. >> Alyssa: IT'S PERFECT. >> I PROUDLY TELL YOU STING TELLS THE STORY HIMSELF. I DON'T REGRET IT. >> Whoopi: LISTEN, IT'S ALWAYS WONDERFUL WHEN YOU COME. IT'S ALWAYS GREAT TO SEE YOU, TALK TO YOU AND HEAR YOU TALK. OUR THANKS TO SIR PATRICK STEWART. THE BOOK IS CALLED "MAKING IT SO." IT'S OUT TODAY. YOU KNOW WHAT, Y'ALL, YOU KNOW, YOU'RE ALL
