Giant Freakin Robot

If Sir Patrick Stewart had never done anything but play Captain Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek: The Next Generation, that would still earn him an everlasting place in the Geek Pantheon. But no, instead Patrick has gone on to play Professor Freakin’ Xavier in the X-Men films and to demonstrate his sense of humor by lending his voice to Family Guy, American Dad, and Seth MacFarlane’s twisted teddy-bear tale, Ted. Now he’s added another notch to his +1 Belt of Awesomeness by carrying the Olympic torch during part of its journey to the Olympics Opening Ceremony this Friday.

As reported by Entertainment Weekly, Stewart carried the torch through Croydon in South London, adding his name to the list of 8,000 torchbearers who have taken the torch on a long journey throughout the U.K. Stewart isn’t the only torchbearer with geek cred, either; both X-Men: First Class actor/fellow Xavier James McAvoy and current Doctor Who lead Matt Smith have taken a turn with the flame.

Here’s what Stewart had to say about the experience: “Nevermind Jean-Luc Picard. I have attended world premieres of big movies that have not had the excitement and sense of pleasure that people are exhibiting today.”