James McAvoy has said multiple times over the years that he'd be up to appear in a Star Trek project, and of course, play a young Jean-Luc Picard if given the opportunity. But the actor has changed his tune on the latter as of late. McAvoy is still up for the idea of appearing in a Star Trek show, but he has some doubts about whether playing Picard is still an option.
James McAvoy has primarily been a favorite to play Young Picard because he stood in for Patrick Stewart as a young Charles Xavier in the X-Men franchise. McAvoy recently made clear to Collider that Star Trek is a franchise he'd love to be a part of, but he's not so sure his entry point is through playing a young Picard.
I mean, I've often talked about loving Star Trek, and jokingly, but also kind of seriously been like, if you ever want to do a young Jean-Luc Picard, I'm your man. But I'm probably getting close to being too old to do a young Jean-Luc Picard now. So there's that.
James McAvoy is currently 42, so playing a young Picard in the same way he played a young Charles Xavier likely wouldn't work. With that said, McAvoy is still five years younger than Patrick Stewart was when he first portrayed Jean-Luc in Star Trek: The Next Generation. Picard was actually supposed to be 59 in his debut, so it's really debatable whether or not McAvoy is out of the running on the "Young Picard" casting.
Age isn't the only thing that has James McAvoy thinking he won't play Picard. The actor went on to fret about what a Young Picard would and wouldn't look like and pointed out that he might not actually be the best fit, saying:
I've successfully been Patrick, actually, and balded up, although maybe again, the young Jean-Luc wouldn't be bald. But yeah, no, maybe I'm overqualified for it, though. That's the other thing. Do you know what I mean? It's too easy, it's too obvious a choice. So maybe that turns people off from it.
James McAvoy has clearly thought out several potential outcomes here, which may signal he's serious about his desire to join the Star Trek universe. I'm sure any of the Paramount+ shows (Picard included) would be lucky to have him, and I'm rooting for him to one day play Picard in flashbacks set back in The Next Generation days. That may be an expensive guest role, though, so perhaps it would just be better if he came into the universe as an entirely new character.
Star Trek fans can get their fill of the franchise over on Paramount+. As far as those hoping for more on James McAvoy, take a look at what he said when he was asked if he was done playing Professor X.
