Title: Patrick Stewart Sent His Wig on a Special Flight for His Star Trek Audition

In a surprising revelation, British actor Sir Patrick Stewart detailed an interesting experience from his original audition for Star Trek: The Next Generation. He shared in his new autobiography "Making It So" that his wig took a separate flight from London to Los Angeles just for the audition.

Stewart was preparing to board his flight at Heathrow Airport when his London agent informed him that Paramount had inquired if he had a hairpiece, and if so, could he bring it in for his audition. His wife Sheila went as far as to box up his 'audition wig' and hand it over to a British Airways representative who placed the hairpiece on a later flight to Los Angeles.

In Los Angeles, his wig arrived before him, and he fetched it from LAX before driving to Paramount Studios for his audition the following morning. Despite the hassle of arranging his wig’s travel, Stewart ended up performing his audition scene without the wig.

The executives at Paramount visited Stewart backstage, where he assumed the worst due to his not wearing the wig. To his surprise, instead of delivering bad news, the executives thanked him and then left. It turned out that the visit was to see him without the wig - the Paramount executives decided to opt for his natural bald look for the role.

Patrick's casting, sans wig, turned out to be the most critical element of Star Trek: The Next Generation, according to executive producer Rick Berman. This marked the beginning of an iconic portrayal that has graced Star Trek for generations.

Author Ryan Leston maintains that fans interested in more content about Star Trek can access multiple articles and trivia on IGN's website.