In “Picard,” Jack and Jean-Luc have a couple of touching moments, but the most intense one happens in the finale when Picard must confront his son on the Borg cube after he’s been assimilated into the collective. Picard has to help bring Jack from the edge of destroying everything and manages to do so by being truly open and honest with his son. When Collider asked about how fatherhood impacted Ed Speleers’ performance, the actor shared just how insightful it really was:
“I think having children has opened my mind, and every fiber in me actually, to a different way of working. Things are just always bubbling away emotionally because of children, and that’s good. And I mean all emotions, everything from love, fear, happiness, anger, everything’s always just fizzing away because of the kids and that way they make you look at the world. So yes, I think it was insightful because also what it made me do is maybe look at how I’ve been as a son, as well, and maybe the things I’ve done and haven’t done.”
Fatherhood may have adjusted Speleers’ perspective, but his connection to the character of Jack Crusher was incredibly strong to begin with. The emotionality of the moment was compounded by the fact that not only was Speleers going through a major emotional journey in-character, but he was also potentially saying goodbye to playing the character forever.
