Patrick Stewart Says He Was Clueless About 'Star Trek' Before First Audition

His children had to remind him of the original 1960s sci-fi series. "They told me, 'Dad, we used to watch it every night!' " Patrick Stewart tells PEOPLE

Patrick Stewart is known around the world for his portrayal of Star Trek: The Next Generation character Captain Jean-Luc Picard, but before his first audition, the actor knew very little about the sci-fi series.

"My children thought it was hysterical that I was even auditioning," Stewart, 81, tells PEOPLE in this week's issue.

A stage actor with a long list of Shakespearean credits, including Midsummer Night's Dream, Much Ado About Nothing and King Lear, Stewart says he wasn't keen on participating in a revival of the 1960s sci-fi series.

His son Daniel, 54, and daughter Sophie, 48, convinced him otherwise. "They told me, 'Dad, we used to watch it every night!' " he recalls of his children with ex-wife, dancer Sheila Falconer. "I said, 'The guys wearing the colored T-shirts?' That was all I knew."

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He was very close to never getting the role when he auditioned in the '80s.

"My first interview [with Star Trek creator] Gene Roddenberry lasted all of about six minutes," Stewart remembers. "I learned afterward that when I had gone out the door, he said, 'Who the hell suggested inviting that guy to come up here? What a waste of time.' Six months later I was offered the role. Gene thought I was completely wrong, but he was outvoted."

Stewart, who married wife Sunny Ozell in 2013, played Picard for all seven seasons — until the show was canceled in 1994 — and reprised the character in four feature films.

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In 2020, he returned to the role again for the Paramount+ series Star Trek: Picard. "Thirty-three years later and I'm still doing it," he says. "I've been very, very lucky."

Season 2 of Star Trek: Picard premieres March 3 on Paramount+.