Why didn't a French actor play Captain Picard? What was the reaction to this on the part of the French?

Question

I always find it a little jarring that Picard and much of his relatives seem to have such a clear English accent despite the fact that the show makes such a big deal about his French ancestry. His Father, for example, makes an appearance in Tapestry. Oddly he also has an English accent. Moreover, I find it odd that a French captain of the Enterprise was played by a well regarded British actor and not a French one. Was a French accent deemed "too thick" and hard to understand by American audiences? Is it simply the common meme that anyone foreign shown in popular American film and television must have an English accent? Picard's tastes too seem to be particularly British -- "Tea, Earl Grey, Hot" anyone?

Also, what was the reaction on the part of the French to this? I'd imagine that they'd be offended (I'm assuming TNG was aired in France). Was there any outcry that a French actor was not selected?

Answer 1

Bob Justman, a member of the Star Trek: The Next Generation production staff, was taking a class with his wife and there were two guest readers for one class, one being Sir Patrick. After hearing Stewart read just one line, Justman was thrilled and said, "I think I've found the next captain of the Enterprise!"

Justman thought he was great for the part, but Roddenberry didn't like him. When Rick Berman joined the team, he saw footage with Stewart and felt he was right for the part, and won more and more converts. Eventually they won Roddenberry over.

So it wasn't a case that they went out and looked for him, it was that Justman saw him and said, "He's perfect for a starship captain!" And he, along with others, pushed to go with him. The producers (or all but one) loved him for the part, even if he didn't speak with a French accent.

It was a case of picking a French accent or going with an actor who could best act as the kind of starship captain they wanted. And, in a case like that, if the only drawback is an accent, you go with the good actor. (Especially since they couldn't find anyone else they liked for the role.)

Now, as to why they didn't see if Stewart could do the role with a French accent, I don't know.

You can read more about it in this trekmovie.com article.

Also, one other point to consider: I don't know if they spoke French at home (or if, by then, there's a global language like Esperanto), but if Picard learned English while in Britain, that would explain the accent. (Then we can assume that the scenes at the Picard vineyard were in French, just translated to English for the audience.)

Answer 2

Well, you can have French/Irish/Viking/… ancestry and make a big deal of it and have a matching first name and not have the matching accent. Accents rarely survive the second generation after emigration; ancestor worship can last millennia. Since Picard is born in France, that's not it, though.

It's quite possible that Picard learned English well enough to speak like a native, especially after years in an English-speaking environment. If he was learning in France, he would have been likely to pick up a British accent (at least nowadays).

Alternatively, there is a common artistic license that allows every actor to speak English even though they should be speaking some foreign or alien language. So maybe the actor is speaking with a British accent but the character is speaking with a French accent.

I don't know whether there was any outcry in France that a French actor wasn't selected, but I doubt there was. Why would there be? As I wrote above, the actor's accent doesn't really matter. Also, if Star Trek was broadcast on French TV at the time (I don't know; Star Trek is somewhat known in France but not nearly as widely as in the US or Britain), it would have been dubbed anyway.

Answer 3

The reason there was no public outcry in France is fairly simple: most movies and television series on French tv are dubbed (ie lip-synced) in French by another actor.

So in effect, in France, Picard was speaking French and so was everyone else...

Please note that I'm not a fan of this, I always prefer the original version.

Answer 4

So I am Francophone, and this is how I see it. All my relatives who speak English well and grew up in France (not Canada like I did being an expat and all) have somewhat of a British accent because that is the type of English they learn. So I was just fine with it because some of my family still living in France speak English with British accents, granted they aren't as pronounced, but still... I thought Stewart was great for the part and did a good job.

Answer 5

I don't think the Universal Translator is necessary as an explanation here: the Federation itself is explanation enough.

Remember, we're talking about someone raised in a future France, not modern France. To us, France and Britain are very different places, with totally different languages and cultures (and quite a bit of rivalry that keeps them from blending). But to Picard, they would just to two (very closely located) regions of Earth, which itself is just one planet within the Federation.

Imagine a Virginian from 1650 encountering someone from modern-day Richmond. They might reasonably ask, "where is your accent? You don't sound Virginian at all!" But no explanation is necessary, the man's premise is simply flawed: in modern times, people from the South don't necessarily have pronounced accents. I myself am from Texas, but no one could tell from speaking to me. I just sound "American."

There are, no doubt, native French speakers within the Federation, but it does seem that pretty much everyone on Earth speaks English as well. Indeed, English may even be most people's first language, with regional languages being learned more academically (similar to Jewish peoples outside of Israel studying Hebrew for cultural reasons, rather than for primary communication). Some regional accents certainly remain (such as the Russian accents of Worf's parents), but it isn't at all hard to imagine that many families might just have lost their regional accents in favor of a "Federation accent."

Especially given France's proximity to Britain and the ease of travel in Picard's era, it's entirely conceivable that he simply never picked up a French accent, just as millions of Americans fail to pick up the accents of their individual states or regions.

Picard is, effectively, a New Yorker who happens to sound like he's from Boston.

Answer 6

I'm not sure about official casting reasons, but Stewart is a Shakespearean actor and Trek shows (as discussed on SF&F.SE before) follow heavily the Shakespearean play model. I am not aware of any famous French-accented Shakespearean actors.

Answer 7

The UT converts languages so everyone hears them in their own, for example, in ST Voy The 37's, the Chinese military person heard everyone speaking in Chinese, but we heard him speak English. The individual accents really can't be accounted for because O'Brien, Troi, Picard, Chekov and Scotty all had accents but we hear them in English.

Answer 8

As I rewatch the series, this came to mind. On Graham Norton Show, Stewart said they tried a French accent while speaking English, and he sounded like Clousseau. You can actually find a clip of the intro (Space, The Final Frontier...) both on the GNS and as the opening sequence. I can accept a combo of both UT and who knows what language will be like in a few centuries, but it still bothers me. UT is inconsistent in a standard American accent with Troi and O'Brien.

As a francophone, my issue is more with his poor French pronunciation (and that of Minuet while stuck in the holodeck). Later in S1, he reunites with an old friend who pronounces Jean-Luc in a more proper manner.

I understand that they found their captain, I just wish they'd renamed him/rewritten his history as further inconsistencies appear throughout the series.

Answer 9

Because actors are not required to be their characters, they just are playing them. Having different backgrounds than their characters is not a problem, or you could just film documentaries, not fiction.

The contrast between Picard's French origins and his British accent could be one of the most evident examples, but I don't think that this could be considered offensive.

Take as further examples:

• Geordi LaForge came from Somalia, in Africa, LeVar Burton is American (but born in Germany);
• James Kirk was American, from Iowa, William Shatner is Canadian;
• Pavel Checkov was Russian, Walter Koenig is American of Lithuanian ancestry;
• Montgomery Scott came from Scotland, James Doohan was Canadian;

And these are just some examples of characters that in the shows are humans born on Earth. Then, there are all the characters which are aliens (Worf, Spock, etc.) and all human characters that in the show were born on planets other than Earth; they were all played by Earthling humans, as well.

Answer 10

On a practical note: Proper functioning of a starship requires all crew members to clearly understand each other - especially when commands are given - particularly during emergency situations. So it is critical that the leadership on the bridge - particularly the captain - should speak in a voice most likely to be well-understood by the rest of the crew. [the same principle - with less at stake, of course - explains why newscasters on the national level usually retrain their voices to a non-regional accent].

Given that, it is only necessary to assume that the current prevalence of English as a common language of international relations simply continues and expands into the future. By Picard's era it would be common for the people of Earth to speak some (descendant of) English for public interaction, especially for direct participation in the politics etc. of the Federation, while still speaking regional languages (in some circumstances) as part of one's personal cultural heritage. So Picard probably grew up speaking French as a young boy, but also learned English well as part of his overall goal of joining Starfleet.

Answer 11

I'm from France and the fact that Picard speaks without a French accent didn't bother me. Some French people speak English with almost no accent (well, I know it's rare). So, for me, Picard has just extremely good British English.

But on the contrary, he speaks very bad French. That's a bit disappointing for a French viewer because he is supposed to be French. The few French words that he said in the TV show are almost incomprehensible for French people. And worst, he seems incapable of saying his name correctly. A French person would say Picar (with a silent d). And his love for Earl Gray and Shakespeare is too English for a French guy (as opposed to coffee and Molière).

Answer 12

In 80s/90s TV, things like that did not often make sense. It even became cultural to do things like this on purpose, in some cases.