Sir Patrick Stewart has opened up to AARP The Magazine about the charities he supports, and his struggle to grow up in poverty.
![Patrick Stewart talks about Embracing his Troubled Past to find Light in the Darkness Patrick Stewart talks about Embracing his Troubled Past to find Light in the Darkness](https://www.looktothestars.org/photo/8416-patrick-stewart-talks-about-embracing-his-troubled-past-to-find-light-in-the-darkness/story_half_width-1395945960.jpg)
“I have been inclined to be solitary in huge chunks of my life,” he says in the interview. "I don’t think that’s a good thing anymore. I think the interaction of being with people, especially people you like, is very important for keeping you sharp, alert, active, connected.
“For years a part of my acting suffered because I was not prepared to embrace rage. I said I couldn’t do it.
"Some of my earliest memories are of when a bill collector came to the door. My mother and I would hide behind the sofa and pretend we weren’t in. I thought that was a great game."
In the interview, Sir Patrick reveals how speaking out about his childhood experiences of an abusive father led to his work with Refuge – the first safe house in England for women and children – as well as Amnesty International's Stop Violence Against Women campaign.
“I do it for my mother, because I couldn’t help her back then,” he says.
He also talks about how he has come to understand his father’s battle with post-traumatic stress disorder, which has led him to become patron of Combat Stress.
“I work with Refuge for my mother, and I support Combat Stress for my father.”
To read the full interview, click here.