Sir Patrick Stewart said he could not imagine ever retiring from acting in his final interview, given just months before his death at the age of 86.
Stewart spoke to TV Insider in July 2026, shortly before his 86th birthday.
He acknowledged that parts get harder to find with age, but said that had not changed his outlook.
Read more: Ian McKellen and others pay tributes to Patrick Stewart: ‘A man to rely on’
“As any actor my age will tell you, there are fewer and fewer available roles as we get older,” he said.
“That being said, I still continue to receive interesting offers and I love being challenged by new work.”
He then made his position clear.
“I can’t imagine ever officially ‘retiring.’ I’ll always and forever be an actor,” he said. He added that he had not announced a retirement and still wanted to see the Star Trek universe grow.
Stewart died on 28 October at his home in Los Angeles.
A family statement said he died after “a brief and poignant journey with Alzheimer’s Disease and Lewy Body Dementia”, with his wife, Sunny Ozell, by his side.
In the same interview, he reflected on the franchise that made him a household name.
“All of these anniversaries are wildly surreal for me,” he said, noting that the 40th anniversary of Star Trek: The Next Generation is “particularly remarkable”.
He also remembered his first day on the lot. “I still remember my first day driving onto the Paramount lot like it was yesterday,” he said.
His recent work shows how busy he stayed.
He voiced a pig’s head in Riz Ahmed’s series Bait, and played Sir Ritchfield, a sheep trying to solve a murder, in the 2026 comedy The Sheep Detectives, starring Hugh Jackman.
He also recorded all 154 of Shakespeare’s sonnets, adding his own commentary.
Disney listed Stewart in the ensemble cast of Avengers: Doomsday, in which he was expected to reprise Professor Charles Xavier. The film is due in cinemas on 18 December 2026.
Read more: Patrick Stewart dies at 86 following Alzheimer’s and Dementia battle
