NYCC 2024: Actor Todd Stashwick Spills The Beans On ‘Star Trek: Picard’
by Tom Smithyman
When actor Todd Stashwick was told a role in Star Trek: Picard was being written specifically for him, his response was muted.
“Until I was being fitted for my uniform, I didn’t believe it would happen,” said Stashwick, who indeed won the role of U.S.S. Titan Captain Liam Shaw in Picard’s third season.
The Hollywood veteran told a New York Comic Con panel crowd on Friday that he had been around the block enough times to know that movies and films are a collaborative process with lots of decision-makers wanting to weigh in on every creative choice. Just because a role is being written for a specific actor doesn’t mean that thespian will ever actually play the role on screen.
“They could go: `Yeah he’s great, but why not Jeffrey Dean Morgan?” said Stashwick, who is often mistaken for The Walking Dead actor.
Stashwick inhabited the role of Shaw, creating a captain unlike any other in Star Trek’s decades-long history. Shaw wasn’t afraid to tell off legacy characters like Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) and Will Riker (Jonathan Frakes). In fact, his irreverence is what made him a fan favorite.
“When you think sunshine, you think Stashwick. That’s how I track,” the actor joked.
Stashwick and his friend, Picard showrunner Terry Matalas, loved what he saw from the first take.
“Do that all day every day until we’re done,” Matalas told Stashwick.
The two worked together on 12 Monkeys, so Matalas was able to give his friend a sneak peek of the Titan bridge and much of the rest of the ship.
“I got to sit in my chair – before everyone else did,” Stashwick joked, referring to losing control of his ship to much of the Star Trek: The Next Generation cast. “I got them back though. I sat in the D chair when no one was around.”
The quasi-resurrection of the Enterprise-D was a high point of Picard’s third season. And it left an impact on the actor. While watching his death scene, his wife started sobbing. Stashwick was nonplussed – until the D made its reappearance. Then he started crying, telling his spouse: “It’s so beautiful. You don’t understand!”
Despite meeting his demise in Picard – a development he supported – he joked that there’s always hope for a Star Trek: Shaw in the future.
“Life comes full circle,” he said. “Plus Spock came back to life. There’s always hope. It’s Star Trek, man. Q! I don’t know!”
