Making It So by Patrick Stewart

5 Stars Sep 09, 2024

My review

5/5 stars

I've enjoyed watching Patrick Stewart in a few things over the years (mostly the X Men movies) but I've never considered myself a fan. However, I read several reviews of this memoir saying that it was excellent and found myself intrigued enough to want to read it.

The author covers many aspects of his life, starting back in childhood and moving all the way through his varied and illustrious career, right up until he discusses how he and his wife spent the COVID pandemic befriending a squirrel (yep, that isn't a typo).

I found his life to be utterly fascinating in a way that I wasn't expecting. He's always come across as a very posh, upper class person in his work, but he is actually from the opposite background and has clearly carried that through his life to make sensible choices about his career. His passion for the theatre is abundant and inspiring - I found it particularly interesting when he was talking about his early theatre career (something I previously knew nothing about) and discussed he had worked with some of the golden era greats like Vivien Leigh.

I opted for the audiobook version (as I do with most memoirs I read) and it was the right choice (as it is with most memoirs I read). The author read the book himself - his calm and commanding voice was my favourite part of reading this book. He infused every word with genuine emotion - this may seem an obvious thing to say seeing as he was reading a book he wrote about his own life, but it isn't always the case, as some authors automatically become stilted and dry when presented with a microphone. The emotion was especially evident when he discussed the affairs he had in both of his previous marriages; he was very matter of fact in his choice of words, but his regret over his actions was clear in tone of his voice.

He perfectly balanced humorous anecdotes and backstage stories, with serious topics such as domestic abuse and marital discord. He was brutally honest and hid from nothing as far as I could tell (openly discussing difficult work relationships and less-than-ideal personal opinions), making the book a heartfelt and thoroughly engaging experience.

I was pleasantly surprised by this book, and was only disappointed that I chose to listen to it over the summer holidays, which meant that my listening time was severely restricted and it took me much longer to read it in it's entirety than it normally would.

Book blurb

The long-awaited memoir from iconic, beloved actor and living legend Sir Patrick Stewart.

From his acclaimed stage triumphs to his legendary onscreen work, Sir Patrick Stewart has captivated audiences around the world and across multiple generations in a career spanning six decades with his indelible command of stage and screen.

No other British working actor enjoys such career variety, universal respect and unending popularity, as witnessed through his seminal roles – whether as Captain Jean-Luc Picard of Star Trek fame, Professor Charles Xavier of Marvel's X-Men hit film franchise, his more than forty years as part of the Royal Shakespeare Company and in such critically lauded roles for Hamlet and The Tempest on the West End and Broadway, his unforgettable one-man show adapted from Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol, or his comedic work in American Dad!, Ted, Extras and Blunt Talk, among many others.

Now, he presents his long-awaited memoir, Making It So, a revealing portrait of a driven artist whose astonishing life – from his humble and hardscrabble beginnings in Yorkshire, to the dizzying heights of Hollywood and worldwide acclaim – proves a story as exuberant, definitive and enduring as the author himself.