Sir Patrick Stewart seems to be the type of guy who you just can't dislike. Not only has he been badass in X-Men and Star Trek (and all his other TV and film roles), but he also champions social causes like getting medicinal cannabis to seriously ill people in the UK and rescuing at-risk dogs.
But the legendary actor has revealed that growing up was difficult because of his abusive dad.
Appearing on ITV's Loose Women, Stewart told the panel that when his dad returned from the Second World War he was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of the Dunkirk evacuation and found it hard to re-enter society and get a regular job.
The 77-year-old said life was fine when his dad was away at war, however it dramatically changed when he came back.
"Suddenly there was this big, hairy man in the house. Increasingly things became more and more difficult.
"He was a weekend alcoholic and it was partly brought about because of his transformation from Regimental Sergeant Major to basically a semi-skilled labourer with no authority at all.
"I realise now [this] must have been very painful for him."
Stewart and his brother would try to protect their mum from their dad's assaults by throwing themselves in front of him.
"At those moments we would go in, we would just try and put our bodies between our mother and our father," he told Loose Women.
Sir Patrick added that while the physical effects of the abuse were difficult to deal with, it also brought about a lot of shame, which he didn't seek help for. He said he carried a lot of what he experienced with his dad into his adult life.
In an interview in 2008, Stewart told American Theatre: "My father was a very potent individual, a very powerful man, who got what he wanted. It was said that when he strode onto the parade ground, birds stopped singing.
"It was many, many years before I realised how my father inserted himself into my work. I've grown a moustache for Macbeth. My father didn't have one, but when I looked in the mirror just before I went on stage I saw my father's face staring straight back at me."
He adds that there weren't services in his day to help domestic violence sufferers, but the actor says that has certainly changed. Stewart wants anyone who is or was a victim to seek out help if they need it.
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Featured Image Credit: PATopics: Entertainment, Celebrity, Domestic violence, Mental Health, Loose Women, ITV