Patrick Stewart marked his 80th birthday with a lockdown sonnet and a Star Trek pool party

For those of us with a birthday in March or beyond, 2020 has been a bit lacklustre in terms of celebrations. Dinner out? Cancelled. Family party? Cancelled. And anyone who’s tried to get more than three friends together on a celebratory Zoom call knows how chaotic that can be (and not in a good way). But with lockdown restrictions loosening, safe and structured get-togethers are finally possible — and for his 80th year on this planet, actor Patrick Stewart shows us exactly how to do it.Step one: stock up on facemasks. Step two: gather your castmates from one of the most iconic sci-fi series to ever grace the screen. Step three: celebrate outdoors, two metres apart, and look like total badasses doing it. This is what Stewart did to mark the occasion, lining up by the pool with his former The Next Generation castmates for a photo snapped by Star Trek producer Rick Berman. Behold:

Masked TNG actors at @SirPatStew’s 80th. pic.twitter.com/06WMvEBndl

— Rick Berman (@berman_rick) July 14, 2020

That’s Michael Dorn, Levar Burton, Gates McFadden, Brent Spiner (Data looks good with grey hair), and Marina Sirtis (ready to cut the cake, apparently) celebrating with Stewart on what looks like a serene summer day. We especially love how they’re keeping their social distancing on brand by maintaining space (the final frontier). Spiner and Sirtis had recently joined Stewart on Picard, which aired earlier this year and reunited the Starfleet captain with several familiar old friends.It wasn’t all partying and swimming pools for Sir Patrick, however. The actor also returned to his reading chair to recite another sonnet in his series of Shakespearean mini-performances he’s bee treating his Twitter audience to since the early days of the pandemic. Coincidentally, his 80th sonnet lined up with the eve of his 80th birthday.

Sonnet 80 arrives on the eve of my 80th birthday. #ASonnetADay pic.twitter.com/iqkUcAXSEM

— Patrick Stewart (@SirPatStew) July 13, 2020

For his actual birthday, Stewart’s dear friend Ian McKellen stepped in to take over the reading as a gift to both Stewart and the rest of us. Watch it here.[video_embed id='1888650']RELATED: Sir Patrick Stewart talks about returning to his most iconic role[/video_embed]