Dafne Keen and Harriet Walter on working with Patrick Stewart: ‘I’ve never seen anyone so ecstatic’
The late actor’s co-stars in Logan and Anthony and Cleopatra remember dog impressions, marching band-conducting and a fervent belief in fun I had the unbelievable privilege of working with Patrick when I was 11 [in Logan]. He was a man of extraordinary warmth, wit and generosity. He possessed that increasingly rare ability to make everyone around him feel as though they were being let in on something wonderful. To…
Key points
- Dafne Keen recalls working with Patrick Stewart on Logan when she was 11.
- Harriet Walter remembers Stewart conducting a marching band at a Michigan football game.
- Both co-stars describe Stewart as generous, playful and deeply committed to fun.
Dafne Keen and Harriet Walter have shared memories of working with the late Patrick Stewart. Keen appeared alongside him in the film Logan when she was 11, while Walter acted with him in Antony and Cleopatra at the RSC in 2006.
In tributes published by the Guardian, both described a man of warmth, wit and generosity who believed acting should be fun.
Keen recalls life on set
Keen said Stewart made everyone feel included and respected, even when she was a clueless 11-year-old on a film set. She remembered him barking like a dog after she noted a house set was missing one, and secretly showing her how fast his Professor X wheelchair could go.
She also recalled him asking, “Have you ever noticed, no one ever sneezes in films?” and suggesting they try to sneeze in a take. Keen said he never made a child feel small and taught her that acting should be enjoyable.
I’ve never seen anyone so ecstatic
— Harriet Walter
Walter on Stewart's joy
Walter remembered Stewart wearing a team baseball cap to move anonymously through crowds at an American football match in Michigan. At halftime, she said, he stepped up to the podium, bald pate exposed, to conduct the University of Michigan Marching Band in a medley of TV theme tunes.
She said she had never seen anyone so ecstatic. Walter added that Stewart was always alive in the moment and taught her that the chemistry between Antony and Cleopatra owed more to their minds and verbal sparring than to costumes or scenery.
