Stage fights 'frighten' Sir Patrick (From Messenger Newspapers)

Stage fights 'frighten' Sir Patrick

1:27am Tuesday 10th April 2012 in National Entertainment News © Press Association 2013

Star Trek actor Sir Patrick Stewart has revealed that he is frightened of performing fight scenes on stage - because of previous bad experiences with "crazy actors".

The 71-year-old X-Men star told the Radio Times that he only felt comfortable with such scenes in the safer world of film and TV.

"Fight scenes frighten me more than anything. I have been unlucky enough to work with one or two crazy actors and I have been hurt when they lose control," he said.

"On TV and film everything feels safe and properly done whereas on stage you can find yourself alone with a battleaxe-wielding actor when the red mist descends over his eyes."

Sir Patrick is best known for his Star Trek role as Captain Jean-Luc Picard in the sci-fi TV series, and as Professor Charles Xavier in the X-Men films.

He has performed on Broadway and in London's West End in an acting career spanning more than 50 years, including most recently critically-acclaimed productions of Waiting For Godot and Hamlet.

Sir Patrick, who did not reveal which actors he was referring to, was a Royal Shakespeare Company member for 16 years.