What Are The 5 Best Patrick Stewart Roles?

Patrick Stewart was one of the greatest actors of his generation. From the stage to every screen size imaginable, audiences loved being transported with him to distant star systems or Shakespearean times, and everything in between.

His passing at 86 years old was hard, but we want to celebrate the movies he left behind and the roles he made iconic.

So today, I am going to go over my top five favorite performances he gave and celebrate the fine actor we lost.

Let's dive in.

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Star Trek: First Contact (1996) - Captain Jean-Luc Picard

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• Director: Jonathan Frakes
• Writer: Brannon Braga, Ronald D. Moore
• Cast: Patrick Stewart, Jonathan Frakes, Brent Spiner, Alice Krige, Alfre Woodard, James Cromwell

Stewart defined Captain Picard over seven seasons of TV and many Star Trek movies. My favorite has to be First Contact, where we get this sweeping adventure and Borg villain that I cannot believe we haven't seen on the big screen since. Stewart gives a raw, Shakespearean performance as a driven leader battling both the Borg and his own trauma to protect Earth's future.

Logan (2017) - Professor Charles Xavier

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• Director: James Mangold
• Writer: Scott Frank, James Mangold, Michael Green
• Cast: Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart, Dafne Keen, Boyd Holbrook, Stephen Merchant

You could pick any X-Men movie for this entry, but I chose the one where he carried the most weight. Stewart delivered a heartbreaking and vulnerable performance as an aging Charles Xavier struggling with neurodegenerative disease. Your heart breaks for him as you see the debilitation of his mind and how the world collapses around them, too.

Green Room (2015) - Darcy Banker

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• Director: Jeremy Saulnier
• Writer: Jeremy Saulnier
• Cast: Anton Yelchin, Imogen Poots, Patrick Stewart, Alia Shawkat, Joe Cole

Criminally underrated movie and performance. We get a subversion of Stewart's heroic roles as he plays a relentless villain. Stewart plays the leader of a neo-Nazi movement hell-bent on killing the band who knows he's up to no good. He'll do it any way possible.

Macbeth (2010) - Macbeth

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• Director: Rupert Goold
• Writer: Rupert Goold (adapted from the play by William Shakespeare)
• Cast: Patrick Stewart, Kate Fleetwood, Michael Feast, Martin Turner, Paul Higgins

Okay, so this is a BBC adaptation of a Chichester Festival Theatre production, where you get all these horror elements added into the classic Shakespeare show. Stewart’s masterclass in line delivery captures Macbeth’s descent into paranoia and tyranny, and the visuals take us into a mental breakdown that I think the bard would have loved.

Dune (1984) - Gurney Halleck

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• Director: David Lynch
• Writer: David Lynch (adapted from the novel by Frank Herbert)
• Cast: Kyle MacLachlan, Patrick Stewart, Francesca Annis, Jürgen Prochnow, Sting

Stewart played Gurney Halleck in Lynch's cult sci-fi epic. It's funny to think about now, but this was his first dip into science fiction, and it became the genre he helped define over the next 40 years.

Summing It All Up

Patrick Stewart's work will stand the test of time because of his incredible commitment to his roles and how well they turned out. He is a legend in his own right, so take the time today to listen to his voice in one of these films or another project. Respect the man and say goodbye.

If you miss him, you can find all these titles and more readily available.