Patrick Stewart was best known for his numerous roles across film and television, including franchise-defining parts of X-Men and Star Trek, but he also appeared in several video games over the years. His most notable video game role is certainly in The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, where he played Emperor Uriel Septim VII, and he was apparently blown away by the detailed lore Bethesda had for his character.
In the wake of Stewart's death at the age of 86, fans have shared numerous memorable stories and anecdotes about the actor's life and career. One such story, which was spotlighted by Bluesky user shadowtodd, dates back to a documentary about the making of Oblivion, which was originally included on a bonus DVD in the game's original 2006 Collector's Edition.
In that documentary, a distressingly young-looking Todd Howard stands in front of a group of Bethesda developers and shows a photo of himself and his wife meeting Stewart. "Ken [Rolston, lead designer] had written a bunch of notes for Patrick Stewart on the character," Howard explained. "Very, very long. I thought it was embarrassingly long, actually."
It's important to remember here that, despite Stewart's stature, Uriel Septim's role in Oblivion is actually pretty small. (Spoilers, but he dies before the end of the tutorial area.) Nonetheless, extensive lore had already been built up around the character over the course of the previous three games, and despite Howard's misgivings it seems the team was keen for Stewart to see every detail.
"I had forwarded it all to Patrick," Howard said. "Patrick came in and said, 'I got the notes on the character.' I was sort of like [gestures nervously]. He's like, 'Never in my life doing any role have I gotten such detailed notes, and I loved it. I am really intrigued. This sounds really cool. You guys have given this a lot of thought. I can't wait to do it.'"
In another part of the documentary, which has been available in full on YouTube for years, we see the moment many of Bethesda's developers heard Stewart's lines for the first time. "He was selling the product like a reverend standing in front of his flock," Rolston noted, "which is exactly the tone I wanted."
Remember, ahead of Oblivion, Bethesda was only just beginning to emerge from years of making niche, fiddly PC games to develop something more mainstream. And even then, 'mainstream' was relative in those days – the documentary opens with Howard doing a bit of old-school handwringing about the perception that video games were still little more than kids' toys.
So you can understand why a room full of game developers raised on a steady diet of science fiction were so astounded hearing an actor as beloved as Patrick Stewart performing lines that they'd written. My favorite bit is when designer Mark Nelson reacts to the reading of "generals and kings have knelt at my command" from Stewart. "That's such a cheesy line that sounds good when he says it," Nelson remarked.
"There isn't another actor we could have picked who I'd be happier to write dialog for," Nelson explained. "Like, seriously, I geeked out over Star Trek for years. It was on while I was in college. Literally, all my friends [and] I would sit around and we'd watch Star Trek and drink beer and act like idiots. I don't have a picture of my wife in my wallet right now but I've got Patrick Stewart in my wallet."
To prove the point, Nelson pulled out his wallet and showed the weathered photo of Stewart he kept inside. "My wife will not be happy," he admitted.
