Patrick Stewart Reveals ‘Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness’ Illuminati Cameos Were “All Shot On Their Own”, Decries The Experience As “Frustrating And Disappointing”
Spencer Baculi
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To the surprise of very few given the franchise’s ever-growing over-reliance on CGI technology, long-time Professor X actor Sir Patrick Stewart has revealed that, much to his self-admitted frustration and disappointment, each actor who appeared as a member of Earth-838’s Illuiminati in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness shot their respective cameos alone and separate from their cast mates.
The storied stage and screen actor revealed this insight into – as well as his dismay towards – his most recent Marvel outing while making an appearance on the January 4th episode of entertainment reporter Josh Horowitz’s Happy Sad Confused podcast.
[Time Stamp: 38:30]
Following a lengthy retrospective discussion on the actor’s career, Stewart was eventually turned to the topic of his ongoing role as the resident namesake of Marvel’s Merry Band of Mutants by Horowitz, who in wrapping up their time together pressed his guest, “On the X-Men front, I would be shocked if your buddy Hugh Jackman, who is returning in Deadpool 3, one of his phone calls was not to you. I’m gonna guess I might see Patrick Stewart in a Deadpool-Wolverine movie.”
“It has come-up,” Stewart teased in reply, “there’s been a process, but you know the last two or three years have been so difficult with both the labor problem and the health problems [Stewart underwent emergency surgery in 2021 after it was found that an undiagnosed cardiac disease had caused major blockages within his heart], and COVID, you know.”
Opining that “There was nothing sentimental about the way they dispatched you in the Doctor Strange movie”, Horowitz then moved to ask Stewart, “I talked to a lot of the actors that were doing the Multiverse of Madness movie, that was a very interesting production. I’m just curious, were you alone? Were you with the actors? Do you remember, like, the circumstances of that?”
In turn, the actor bluntly confirmed, “I was alone.”
“I think the big scene [in which the Illuminati assemble on screen], I think each one of the leading actors had the same experience,” recalled the Star Trek: The Next Generation icon. “They were shot on their own.”
Drawing his thoughts on his time in Professor X’s iconic yellow hover chair to a close, the actor ultimately opined, “It was frustrating and disappointing, but, that’s how it has been. The last few years have been challenging.”
Notably, Stewart is not the only cinematic Marvel mutant in recent years to have voiced his frustrations with the industry’s recent turn to technology over actual theatrical craftsmanship.
In an interesting meta-parallel between their respective characters, longtime cinematic Magneto actor Sir Ian McKellen recounted feeling similarly disappointed towards his time reprising the role of Gandalf in The Hobbit film trilogy.
Recalling his return to his wizard’s robes during a 2018 interview with the London-based entertainment magazine Time Out, the veteran performer admitted, “I was miserable. It may be my impression but I don’t remember a green screen on The Lord of the Rings [trilogy].”
“If Gandalf was on top of a mountain, I’d be there on the mountain,” he told the outlet’s Phjil de Semlyen. “The technology was being invented while we were making the film. [In The Lord of the Rings trilogy] I wasn’t involved in any of that, I was away acting on a mountain. I tend not to remember the bad times, but I don’t think there were any. I think I enjoyed every single moment of making those films.”
At current, Deadpool 3 – and the potential return of Stewart’s Professor X – is set to slash its way into theaters on July 26th, 2024.
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