Behind-The-Scenes Photos from the Making of Star Trek: Picard

Jonathan Frakes directed the episodes “Absolute Candor” and “Stardust City Rag.” Frakes has directed at least 20 episodes of different Star Trek series. He also directed Star Trek: First Contact and Star Trek: Insurrection. Here he is with Santiago Cabrera (Cristóbal Rios).

Cabrera and Michelle Hurd (Raffi Musiker) laugh as they flip through The Three Musketeers. Cabrera actually played “Aramis” in the BBC series The Musketeers.

Here is Frakes directing Hurd for a scene in the La Sirena spaceship. Hurd grew up watching The Original Series with her family and said it felt “phenomenal” to join the Star Trek franchise. 

Makeup artists are the unsung heroes of Star Trek. In this photo, two of them work to bring Mr. Vup (played by Dominic Burgess) to life. 

Frakes and Patrick Stewart prepare to film a scene from “Absolute Candor.”

Frakes and Stewart share a laugh around several Romulan actors. 

Stewart and Frakes beat the heat while filming a scene on the planet Vashti, which is, in reality, a Universal backlot location. 
 

Frakes and Stewart embrace in-between shots. Evan Evagora (Elnor), who grew up watching The Next Generation, tries to play it cool in the foreground. 

Actor Harry Treadaway, who stars as Narek, practices his mean mug. Before joining the cast of Picard, Treadaway was most known for appearing as Dr. Victor Frankenstein in Penny Dreadful.

Isa Briones (Soji), Jonathan Del Arco (Hugh) and Stewart talk with executive producer Michael Chabon. Del Arco first played Hugh in The Next Generation. 

Director Hanelle M. Culpepper (left) directed the first two episodes of Picard. Here she is with her crew strategizing the next shot. 
 

DiHurd and Stewart stay out of the sun at Vasquez Rocks, an often-used filming location for Star Trek. 
 

Del Arco has his Borg makeup applied by makeup artist James Mackinnon. Del Arco used to watch Star Trek while he grew up to help him learn English. 

Jeri Ryan (Seven of Nine) and Frakes share a laugh with Necar Zadegan (Bjayzl). Ryan talked to Wil Wheaton about returning to the Star Trek universe in her episode of The Ready Room. 

A member of the makeup team does a spot check to make sure Mr. Vup is ready to go. Picard won Outstanding Prosthetic Makeup at the 2020 Emmy Awards. 

Just two men having fun playing make-believe. This picture was taken while filming “Stardust City Rag.”

Frakes goes over the script with Evagora and Stewart.

Frakes discusses the scene with Ryan and Stewart. Ryan told The Hollywood Reporter she was glad to have Frakes as director while she attempted to get back into the character she hadn’t played for 20 years. After a couple of takes, Frakes walked onto the set and proclaimed “There she is.”

The crew executes a raised dolly shot for the episode “Nepenthe.” Notice how the dolly track is propped up by an assortment of apple boxes and wedges to get steady, level camera movement despite the terrain. 

The captain poses with his former commanders. Marina Sirtis (Deanna Troi) was excited to reunite with her castmates and said she believed Picard would be the “next big thing” for Star Trek. 

Frakes and Stewart laugh during a break in shooting. Troi and Riker’s home was filmed on a Universal backlot originally built for the film The Great Outdoors.

LeVar Burton visited the set while they were filming “Nepenthe.”

Burton catches up with Stewart and Briones. You can watch Briones interview about her experiences with filming Picard on The Ready Room.

Here is an overhead shot while the team is filming a scene inside the La Sirena. You can take a tour of the massive speed freighter set here. 

Cabrera brings the intensity. 

The Star Trek: Picard production team uses as many as three cameras at a time to shoot a scene. 

Here we see Hurd shrouded in the blue lights of the La Sirena.

Stewart shares a discussion with his old friend Brent Spiner (Data/Dr. Altan Inigo Soong). Spiner returned for three episodes of Picard. 

Alison Pill (Dr. Jurati), Hurd and Briones take a picture together on set. Pill previously had roles in The Newsroom and American Horror Story: Cult. You can watch her appearance on The Ready Room alongside Patrick Stewart here. 

Stewart embraces executive producer/director Akiva Goldsman. Goldsman won an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for 2001’s A Beautiful Mind. Goldsman has also written and directed for Star Trek: Discovery.

Ouch! Practical effects are serious business. 

Treadaway serenades the rest of the actors. “You guys wanna hear 'Wonderwall?'”

Stewart gets into character as they prepare to slate. 

Briones, Stewart and Goldsman share a picture and a smile.

The Picard actors take a scenic photo together in the mountains of California. 

Stewart holds court during a break in the action. 

Evagora, Cabrera and Hurd hang out while the crew sets up the next shot. 

Stewart tries his hand at cinematography. Stewart directed a total of five TNG episodes including the holodeck Western “A Fistful of Datas.”

Briones, Stewart and Treadaway share a laugh off-camera. 
 

Treadaway thanks the cast and crew at the end of filming.

Stewart gives a round of applause for his fellow actors. 

The main cast gets down low to pose for a group photo. 

Stewart and company get ready for a crowd scene on Coppelius from the two-part season finale.  The Coppelius Station seen in the episodes was filmed on a private residence in beautiful Malibu, CA. 

Treadaway makes sure the rest of the crew looks as good as him. 

The camera catches Goldsman and Stewart holding hands behind the scenes.

Stewart, Pill and Goldsman check the monitor together at video village. 

Frakes, in full costume, discusses a scene with Jason Zimmerman, the lead visual effects supervisor. 

See you in the next gallery!