Picard Burns Rubber

Star Trek's Captain Picard has never really been one for hands-on excitement. Sure, Kirk got down and dirty with the scum of the universe, kicking half the galaxy's arse and jumping into bed with the rest , but his successor at the Enterprise's helm has always taken a slightly more reserved approach. A 'make it so' here, a 'launch photon torpedoes' there, were usually as close to the fray as old Jean-Luc liked to get. But all this is about to change. Apparently, after a decade spent hiding behind shields and bulkheads, Captain Picard has finally snapped. In the upcoming Star Trek: Nemesis, the he'll be casting off his neatly-pressed tunic and hitting the road for some much deserved wheel-spinning action. Something that Patrick Stewart is thrilled to bits about. ''I get to drive a futuristic off-road vehicle,'' he grins to Entertainment Weekly. ''And I mean really drive it. I have the kind of fun that's usually reserved only for racing drivers.'' The rubber-burning in question is apparently a key scene early in the movie and was shot in California's Mojave desert. ''We spent the first two weeks out in the desert up near Edwards Air Force Base. It's a wild desert. Perfect for this action sequence.'' Finally getting some real action, Stewart was actually quite at home behind the wheel of his Trek buggy. "I have a 10-year-old Jaguar XJS, which I'm very fond of. But I never get to go quite as fast as Picard.''