Patrick Stewart has returned to his acting roots with a new confidence made possible by his work on Star Trek: The Next Generation.

As reported by TrekMovie.com, it was his work on Star Trek that helped to change him. When asked how the fame from working on Star Trek affected him, Stewart said, "Star Trek had a huge impact on that, in every way, in the way it affected my personal life, my financial security, my feelings about myself. I got so much to thank that show for."

In addition to the fame and financial security, Stewart credits Star Trek for getting him to look at things differently when it came to his acting. "I got a lot nice things said about me for playing Jean Luc Picard," he explained, "some of them about my work as an actor, some of them about my appearance, which I had never considered before. Then launching my theater career again on that background of commercial notoriety just felt very different. Everything about my feeling about being on the stage has gone through a total transformation now."

To read the article and see a video in which Stewart made comments on both Star Trek and MacBeth while appearing on the Charlie Rose Show, head to the link located here.

But fame doesn't guarantee acceptance by one's own people, that must be earned, according to Stewart as reported by Broadway.com. "The English have got a rather odd relationship with success," he explained. "They like their people to be successful, but they're not too keen on them being successful elsewhere. And they like to remind them that maybe they're not as successful as they think they are. English audiences tend to be a little hard to convince. 'Prove it to us,' they might say. But I love working in England. What I'm doing right now is all I ever wanted to do: great Shakespeare on English stages with a fine group of actors."

And that work on MacBeth has paid off. Stewart has been nominated for two awards for his work in the play. As reported by Outercritics.org, Stewart was nominated with three other actors for the "Outstanding Actor in a Play" award. The winners of the Outer Critics Circle Award will be announced on Monday, May 12th and the annual awards ceremony will be held on Thursday, May 22nd at the legendary Sardi's restaurant. Stewart was also nominated for the "Distinguished Performance Award" given by the Annual Drama League. The 74th Annual Drama League Awards ceremony will be held on May 16.

To read more, head to the articles located here, here and here. Additional Stewart information comes from the Patrick Stewart Network.

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