The legendary “Star Trek” actor Sir Patrick Stewart revealed that when he first accepted the role, he believed he would only be playing Jean-Luc Picard briefly.

Beginning with the 1987 television series “Star Trek: The Next Generation,” Stewart has portrayed the role in a number of series and motion pictures over a 35-year period.

The 82-year-old actor has been starring in his own spinoff series since 2020, which recently debuted its third and final season and features a much older Picard.

Stewart admitted on Wednesday’s episode of “The Late Late Show with James Corden” that the six-year contract he had to sign made him hesitant to take the lead role in “The Next Generation.”

Stewart said, “I couldn’t accept what it was I’d taken on. I asked my one or two TV connections, “What should I do? I was just informed that a six-year contract was required. I had a list of plays I needed to perform. As Shakespeare was lining up, I exclaimed, “I can’t do this.

The English actor continued, “Look, you know you cannot bring back an enduring show. Not at all. Just come over here, because it won’t work. Do a dozen episodes, maybe fewer, and start making some money for the first time in your life. Then go home. That was my forecast for myself: no more than six months.

The “X-Men” actor revealed that he would decline the chance to reprise his role in “Picard” because he had previously stated that he wouldn’t do so during an appearance on “The Graham Norton Show” in 2020.

“I accepted the meeting with four extremely distinguished individuals because I didn’t want to simply decline the invitation. I no longer practice that. Stewart said, implying that they were able to convince him to change his mind. “So I went to the meeting to explain to them face-to-face why I couldn’t do it… and then,” Stewart said.

Stewart claimed on “The Late Late Show” that after becoming well-known for his role as a spaceship captain, real-life airline pilots started inviting him into the cockpit on flights.

Once the plane was in the air and flying, Stewart recalled that he was frequently invited onto the flight deck. “I was at the controls once, and you’re not going to believe what happened… I pressed the two middle buttons out of the four that sent the Concorde’s engines into supersonic motion while I was on the flight deck.

A French-British supersonic aircraft from the 20th century is the British Airways Concorde.

“Star Trek: Picard” is available to stream in its entirety on Paramount+.