The Graham Norton Show

Sir Patrick Stewart reveals he didn't want to say yes to Captain Picard again, Michael B Jordan and Jamie Foxx talk about the real story behind their new movie, Jennifer Saunders jokes about straight acting, and Michael Kiwanuka performs live in the studio.

Sir Patrick Stewart, revealing that he didn't initially want to return to the role of Captain Picard in Star Trek's latest TV outing, says, "It's a big deal for me because I have so many times publicly said, 'I'm done. Star Trek was wonderful, and it changed my life and my career, but I have said it all and there is nothing more to say.'

"I didn't just want to say, 'No. Pass,' so I went to the meeting to explain to them face-to-face why I couldn't do it. And then they made me an offer I couldn't refuse! But there were conditions - no uniform and no Enterprise. They said they could live with that and they have made a huge commitment to the series. We hope it is amazing."

Asked if he ever watches Star Trek, he says, "I don't look for it, but occasionally I'll happen upon it. There was one night in a hotel when I was flicking through the channels and there was an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, so I watched it for a few minutes, and I got hooked. Then the waiter came in with my room service order and he looked at me, then looked at the television and I thought, 'He is going to go away and tell the entire kitchen that it was the saddest thing he had ever seen - this guy upstairs alone, having room service and watching himself!'"

Michael B Jordan, talking about real life story behind his new film, Just Mercy, says, "The story happened 35 years ago but it feels like it could be yesterday. I didn't know who Bryan Stevenson was, I didn't know he existed until I read his memoir and here I am reading about a real-life superhero getting people off death row who are wrongly convicted. He is not a household name and that is what made me run towards making the movie and try and get his story out to the masses."

Jamie Foxx, who stars alongside Michael in the film, adds, "I commend Michael for taking this movie. If you look at what he did with Fruitvale Station and then Black Panther to bring the narrative out for black people, I think this film completes his artistic sentence. When people watch this film, they weep and cheer because it moves your soul."

Talking about his own experience of the US legal system, an emotional Jamie says, "When Michael called me, I was humbled and honoured to be part of the project, but it is personal because they put my father in jail for seven years for having $25 of illegal substances. He was an educator of kids in the inner city and he taught me everything I know. I couldn't visit him in jail because I saw him as a king, but I wrote to him to say, 'Things have gotten good for me and when you get out I will save your life,' and he has been living with me for 20 years now." Adding, "Here's the good part - when he saw the movie, he said, 'You tell that Michael B Jordan to keep doing what he is doing because it is so important.'"

Asked how it works with his mother also living with him, he says, "That poses a problem because they have been divorced for 25 years! I would always send her a ticket to come and visit and about 12 years ago she took me up on the offer - she came for Christmas. New Year came and went, then her birthday in January and then all of a sudden it was February and she hadn't left. They live under the same roof and what's crazy is that he still dates, and my mother will go to his side of the house to check things out! It's a weirdly fun household!"

Jennifer Saunders, talking about playing Madame Arcati in Blithe Spirit in the West End, says, "It is huge fun. It is properly funny and properly dynamic and glorious. Great fun!"

Asked about her new Netflix series, The Stranger, and whether it really is her first ever drama, she says, "I sort of think it is. I can't of another one that isn't full of laughs. It was quite hard and difficult, but it was exciting and lovely to do a bit of straight acting." Adding, "I think it is all about expectation. On my first day and in my first scene I was so nervous I could barely breathe but then you sort of realise it is just filming and doing all the same sort of things as usual, but the expectation is not to have a laugh. They asked me to walk across a car park and I realised I didn't know how to walk without doing something funny! It was so hard."

Michael Kiwanuka performs Hero live in the studio, before joining Graham for a chat about his new album and Brit Award nominations.