Director Jeremy Saulnier credited the late Patrick Stewart with saving “Green Room” from collapse, paying tribute Friday at a 10th-anniversary screening of the thriller in Los Angeles, a day after news of the actor’s death at 86. Saulnier said he had come to promote his upcoming film “Slayground,” then set that pitch aside to talk about Stewart. The 2015 A24 production sat “at the point of no return,” he told the crowd, with sets going up and nobody cast as Darcy Banker, the neo-Nazi club owner at the center of the story. Stewart, a star far above the project’s weight class, expressed interest unprompted and signed on.
“Patrick Stewart is why I still can make movies,” Saulnier said. He remembered the actor as a true gentleman and a kind leader of the cast. The director also shared a story from the set. Stewart told him he wanted to add something to a scene, a prospect Saulnier found nerve-racking. The addition turned out to be a single profane word. Saulnier ended with a line he said Stewart insisted he repeat to audiences: “Whatever you do, don’t root for the Nazis.” The crowd applauded.
The casting carried risk for a performer best known for noble figures. Stewart played Captain Jean-Luc Picard in “Star Trek: The Next Generation” and Professor Charles Xavier in the “X-Men” films, and “Green Room” gave him one of his coldest villains.
His longtime spokesperson announced Stewart’s death Thursday. The actor died at his home in Los Angeles, and reports said he had been living with Alzheimer’s disease and Lewy body dementia. He leaves his wife, the singer-songwriter Sunny Ozell, and two children, Sophia and Daniel.
Tributes arrived from across his career. Ian McKellen, his friend of decades and screen rival as Magneto, William Shatner and Hugh Jackman all paid their respects. Stewart is set to appear in “Avengers: Doomsday,” reportedly his final film, which opens in December.
