Every now and then, the Dubai International Film Festival has a habit of throwing a genuine legend in your path. Past years have seen the likes of Terry Gilliam, Samuel L Jackson and Martin Sheen stalk the corridors of Dubai's Madinat Arena, and this year the scent of Patrick Stewart, better known as Star Trek: The Next Generation's Captain Jean Luc Picard and X-Men's Professor Charles Xavier has hung over the festival like an overpowering, yet undeniably pleasant, aroma.
It's rare that an actor is talented, or lucky, enough to land one role as iconic as Stewart's two best known parts in their career. Stewart has managed both. Having now quit the X-Men franchise along with co-star Hugh Jackman following this year's critically lauded Logan, I wonder what the actor has planned for his third iconic role: "Well, I don't know about that, but I read somewhere the other day that 'an actor can never have too many franchises,' and I think that's very true," he says.
It was back in 1986 that Stewart's life changed irrevocably. Prior to that, he had been a successful, but largely unknown outside theatre circles, stage actor and member of the UK's Royal Shakespeare Company. Then came the call to hop on a plane to Hollywood: "It was a mystery. I just got this call to go to a meeting in LA with [Star Trek creator] Gene Rodenberry," he says. "Eventually I learned that one of his co-producers on Star Trek had been signed up for a course of public lectures at UCLA that I was involved in. One night he turned up with his wife and I was there doing some Shakespeare. He turned to his wife and said 'we've found our captain.'"
The co-producer in question may have been convinced, but Stewart reveals that Rodenberry himself wasn’t so sure: “It took six months before it was all confirmed because Gene wasn’t keen at all on the idea of me playing Jean-Luc Picard,” he reveals. “I don’t know what they did - maybe they paid him off - but eventually the studio decided I was their man and my life changed beyond recognition from that moment on.”
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Stewart's life had indeed changed, though it seems he was among the last to realise. The actor famously didn't even get his own apartment stateside for months after Star Trek:The Next Generation had proved itself a success, and he admits he was slow to recognise his own growing stature: "I was in denial about it for a long time. I think I was in denial for nearly two years," he admits. "When we filmed the pilot I was living in a friend's spare room and I never unpacked my suitcase because I was convinced they'd wake up one morning and say 'sorry Patrick we've made a huge mistake. Thanks for your work' and I'd make my way back to the RSC."
Stewart's friends back in the UK didn't exactly help cure his cynicism towards his impending legendary status either: "It wasn't helped by the fact that everyone I knew said 'this'll never work. You can't revive an iconic property like Star Trek. Just get a sun tan, make some money for the first time in your life, and come home in six months.' It didn't happen, and 14 years later I realised how true the saying was that in Hollywood nobody knows anything about anything. That's the one bit of advice I've had in my life that's definitely true."
The actor adds that his new American co-stars noticed his decidedly un-Hollywood mentality too: "My colleagues on Star Trek used to say I had a poverty mentality, which is probably true. I grew up in a one-bedroom house in the north of England with no hot water, no inside toilet, and that's doubtless affected me," he admits.
After seven years, seven seasons, 19 Emmy Awards and four feature films, Stewart had finally accepted that he'd made it, and it was time to move onto X-Men, where the actor would appear in seven movies before bowing out earlier this year. He admits that his departure from the franchise following this year's incredible Logan, a film that is frankly too good for a superhero movie, was an emotional affair: "I remember there was a point at the film's first public screening at the Berlin Film Festival earlier this year," he says. "Hugh [Jackman, who plays the titular Logan/Wolverine] and I were sitting side-by-side, and at one point he reached over and took my hand because we were both very emotional at the way the film ends. It's very emotional and very bad things happen."
At this point Jackman had already announced his intention to bow out of the franchise, and it seems the emotional moment had its effect on Stewart too: "Of course I already knew that this was the last time Hugh would play Logan, he'd already announced that, and as the credits rolled I realised that there would never be a more perfect time to say 'au revoir' to Charles Xavier than what I had just seen," he reveals. "So the next day I called a press conference and announced that I would also be saying goodbye to X-Men."
That would seem to be the end of the X-Men for Stewart, but maybe not, he teases: "Of course, since then people have come up with a multitude of ideas that would have meant I wouldn't have said goodbye to X-Men, so we'll see."
Speaking with Stewart, however briefly, was an undeniable pleasure, and it's safe to assume that those who attended his hour-long Diff "in conversation with" on Friday afternoon were in for a treat. It's no surprise that this utter gentleman ends our conversation by talking not about what his work has done for him, but rather what it has done for others: "People forget how much Star Trek had to say, politically and about society and our roles in it," he says. "I've been stopped in the street, or in restaurants or bars, hundreds of times by people saying 'thank you. I only made it because of Star Trek.' That's an incredible feeling."
The veteran actor picks one such occasion as a defining moment: "I think the most moving moment was when I received a letter from a sergeant in the Las Vegas police department. He told me about his job and his life and what he does, but then he said 'there are days when I despair of humanity and what we do to each other. And on these days I get home, and I reach up to my shelf and take down Star Trek, and I'm reminded that it's all worth fighting for."
The actor is clearly moved: “What can I say? When people say that about your work, it’s meaningful. Do you know? It’s just meaningful.”
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DIFF picture highlights
UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE FIXTURES
All kick-off times 10.45pm UAE ( 4 GMT) unless stated
Tuesday
Sevilla v Maribor
Spartak Moscow v Liverpool
Manchester City v Shakhtar Donetsk
Napoli v Feyenoord
Besiktas v RB Leipzig
Monaco v Porto
Apoel Nicosia v Tottenham Hotspur
Borussia Dortmund v Real Madrid
Wednesday
Basel v Benfica
CSKA Moscow Manchester United
Paris Saint-Germain v Bayern Munich
Anderlecht v Celtic
Qarabag v Roma (8pm)
Atletico Madrid v Chelsea
Juventus v Olympiakos
Sporting Lisbon v Barcelona
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No.6 Collaborations Project
Ed Sheeran (Atlantic)
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Fixtures
50-over match
UAE v Lancashire, starts at 10am
Champion County match
MCC v Surrey, four-day match, starting on Sunday, March 24, play starts at 10am
Both matches are at ICC Academy, Dubai Sports City. Admission is free.
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
The five pillars of Islam
Dubai Bling season three
Cast: Loujain Adada, Zeina Khoury, Farhana Bodi, Ebraheem Al Samadi, Mona Kattan, and couples Safa & Fahad Siddiqui and DJ Bliss & Danya Mohammed
Rating: 1/5
Three-day coronation
Royal purification
The entire coronation ceremony extends over three days from May 4-6, but Saturday is the one to watch. At the time of 10:09am the royal purification ceremony begins. Wearing a white robe, the king will enter a pavilion at the Grand Palace, where he will be doused in sacred water from five rivers and four ponds in Thailand. In the distant past water was collected from specific rivers in India, reflecting the influential blend of Hindu and Buddhist cosmology on the coronation. Hindu Brahmins and the country's most senior Buddhist monks will be present. Coronation practices can be traced back thousands of years to ancient India.
The crown
Not long after royal purification rites, the king proceeds to the Baisal Daksin Throne Hall where he receives sacred water from eight directions. Symbolically that means he has received legitimacy from all directions of the kingdom. He ascends the Bhadrapitha Throne, where in regal robes he sits under a Nine-Tiered Umbrella of State. Brahmins will hand the monarch the royal regalia, including a wooden sceptre inlaid with gold, a precious stone-encrusted sword believed to have been found in a lake in northern Cambodia, slippers, and a whisk made from yak's hair.
The Great Crown of Victory is the centrepiece. Tiered, gold and weighing 7.3 kilograms, it has a diamond from India at the top. Vajiralongkorn will personally place the crown on his own head and then issues his first royal command.
The audience
On Saturday afternoon, the newly-crowned king is set to grant a "grand audience" to members of the royal family, the privy council, the cabinet and senior officials. Two hours later the king will visit the Temple of the Emerald Buddha, the most sacred space in Thailand, which on normal days is thronged with tourists. He then symbolically moves into the Royal Residence.
The procession
The main element of Sunday's ceremonies, streets across Bangkok's historic heart have been blocked off in preparation for this moment. The king will sit on a royal palanquin carried by soldiers dressed in colourful traditional garb. A 21-gun salute will start the procession. Some 200,000 people are expected to line the seven-kilometre route around the city.
Meet the people
On the last day of the ceremony Rama X will appear on the balcony of Suddhaisavarya Prasad Hall in the Grand Palace at 4:30pm "to receive the good wishes of the people". An hour later, diplomats will be given an audience at the Grand Palace. This is the only time during the ceremony that representatives of foreign governments will greet the king.
About Karol Nawrocki
• Supports military aid for Ukraine, unlike other eurosceptic leaders, but he will oppose its membership in western alliances.
• A nationalist, his campaign slogan was Poland First. "Let's help others, but let's take care of our own citizens first," he said on social media in April.
• Cultivates tough-guy image, posting videos of himself at shooting ranges and in boxing rings.
• Met Donald Trump at the White House and received his backing.
Vaccine Progress in the Middle East
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COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
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Teams
Punjabi Legends Owners: Inzamam-ul-Haq and Intizar-ul-Haq; Key player: Misbah-ul-Haq
Pakhtoons Owners: Habib Khan and Tajuddin Khan; Key player: Shahid Afridi
Maratha Arabians Owners: Sohail Khan, Ali Tumbi, Parvez Khan; Key player: Virender Sehwag
Bangla Tigers Owners: Shirajuddin Alam, Yasin Choudhary, Neelesh Bhatnager, Anis and Rizwan Sajan; Key player: TBC
Colombo Lions Owners: Sri Lanka Cricket; Key player: TBC
Kerala Kings Owners: Hussain Adam Ali and Shafi Ul Mulk; Key player: Eoin Morgan
Venue Sharjah Cricket Stadium
Format 10 overs per side, matches last for 90 minutes
Timeline October 25: Around 120 players to be entered into a draft, to be held in Dubai; December 21: Matches start; December 24: Finals
Analysis
Maros Sefcovic is juggling multiple international trade agreement files, but his message was clear when he spoke to The National on Wednesday.
The EU-UAE bilateral trade deal will be finalised soon, he said. It is in everyone’s interests to do so. Both sides want to move quickly and are in alignment. He said the UAE is a very important partner for the EU. It’s full speed ahead - and with some lofty ambitions - on the road to a free trade agreement.
We also talked about US-EU tariffs. He answered that both sides need to talk more and more often, but he is prepared to defend Europe's position and said diplomacy should be a guiding principle through the current moment.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Company%20profile
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What is cyberbullying?
Cyberbullying or online bullying could take many forms such as sending unkind or rude messages to someone, socially isolating people from groups, sharing embarrassing pictures of them, or spreading rumors about them.
Cyberbullying can take place on various platforms such as messages, on social media, on group chats, or games.
Parents should watch out for behavioural changes in their children.
When children are being bullied they they may be feel embarrassed and isolated, so parents should watch out for signs of signs of depression and anxiety
Mobile phone packages comparison
SPAIN SQUAD
Goalkeepers Simon (Athletic Bilbao), De Gea (Manchester United), Sanchez (Brighton)
Defenders Gaya (Valencia), Alba (Barcelona), P Torres (Villarreal), Laporte (Manchester City), Garcia (Manchester City), D Llorente (Leeds), Azpilicueta (Chelsea)
Midfielders Busquets (Barcelona), Rodri (Manchester City), Pedri (Barcelona), Thiago (Liverpool), Koke (Atletico Madrid), Ruiz (Napoli), M Llorente (Atletico Madrid)
Forwards: Olmo (RB Leipzig), Oyarzabal (Real Sociedad), Morata (Juventus), Moreno (Villarreal), F Torres (Manchester City), Traore (Wolves), Sarabia (PSG)
