I think it might be self-inflicted. Patrick Stewart is big enough that he can make it so with regard to the scripts. He's the one that insisted there be a dune buggy chase scene in Nemesis, for example. And he's pushed for more action and romance in the movies. I suspect that this is another case of a good actor or writer who works best when tempered by outside control.
Jaccident@startrek.website 5 months ago
I don’t know that insistence is the right way to phrase it. Sir Patrick and Brent Spiner are good friends, IIRC Nemesis was written by Spiner’s old flatmate and best friend. As such the wants of the actors started creeping into the scripts, not out of insistence per se, but perhaps more out a natural affect of a close working relationship. Sometimes a healthy distance is most important between a writer’s room, and the cast.