Patrick Stewart is best known as Jean-Luc Picard, but his television career also included sharply different roles that highlighted his range as a performer. A classically trained actor, Stewart began appearing on television in the 1960s and continued to take on varied parts after Star Trek: The Next Generation made him a household name in 1987.
Among his most unusual later performances was voicing Pigtrick, a severed pig’s head in the 2026 Prime Video dark comedy Bait. The character becomes a source of motivation for Shah Latif, played by Riz Ahmed, who imagines conversations with it while pursuing an audition to play James Bond. Ahmed said Stewart was chosen for his acting stature, humility and comic ability.
Stewart’s portrayal of Soviet agent Karla in the BBC’s 1979 adaptation of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy showed a very different strength: he remains silent throughout the flashback scene. As George Smiley recalls trying to persuade Karla to defect, Stewart conveys the character’s patience and control without speaking.
He also played an exaggerated version of himself in Ricky Gervais’ Extras. In the scene, Stewart tells aspiring actor Andy Millman that he will “make it so” when asked to pass along a script, but Andy does not recognize the Star Trek reference. Gervais later praised Stewart for agreeing to take part and for his patience during filming.
For more than two decades, Stewart voiced Avery Bullock, the self-absorbed and loud deputy director of the CIA in American Dad!. In a 2015 interview with Time, Stewart said the role gave him the chance to play an obnoxious, opinionated character and that he found it fun.
The ranking’s top pick is Sejanus, the ambitious commander of the Praetorian Guard in the BBC miniseries I, Claudius. Stewart’s portrayal presents a controlled public figure driven by ruthless hunger for power. The 1976 role demonstrated his ability to play a villain, a sharp contrast with the heroic characters Picard and Charles Xavier.
Sources: TVLine.