Stewart Glad to Be Talked Into 'X-Men'
Thursday May 1 8:51 AM ET


Patrick Stewart is glad he was talked into being in the "X-Men" movies. Stewart didn't want to play Professor Xavier at first because he didn't want to be involved in another movie franchise after "Star Trek: The Next Generation." He also thought being known as Captain Picard would be too much baggage to bring to another character.

Stewart says director Bryan Singer and producer Lauren Schuler Donner changed his mind. "I just thought that to connect myself with a similar project I mean it's not science fiction, it's fantasy, might not be the smartest thing to do. And I resisted. Partly because I was arguing with Bryan and Lauren that maybe it would not in the best interest of this new franchise to have someone bringing a lot of luggage with him. But Bryan argued that that was a bonus," Stewart told AP Radio.

Now Stewart is back in the sequel, "X-2," which opens tomorrow.