Los Angeles, March 24 Actor Patrick Stewart is brushing up his Shakespeare quotient on social media to calm his nerves, as life comes to a standstill due to coronavirus pandemic.
The iconic "Star Trek" star, who has been classically trained, is reading sonnets of William Shakespeare to his followers on Instagram, reports hollywoodreporter.com.
"I was delighted by the response to yesterday's posting of Shakespeare's Sonnet 116, and it has led me to undertake what follows," Stewart wrote on Sunday with a new video.
He continued: "When I was a child in the 1940s, my mother would cut up slices of fruit for me (there wasn't much) and as she put it in front of me she would say, 'An apple a day keeps the doctor away'. How about, 'A sonnet a day keeps the doctor away'? So... here we go: Sonnet 1."
A number of people responded to the videos, telling Stewart his voice had a calming effect on their psyche during such a stressful time.
Stewart is among the growing number of actors and music who are doing what they can to help make the pandemic time more bearable.
Recently, Neil Diamond rearranged his classic "Sweet caroline" to encourage persistent handwashing and social distancing.
( With inputs from IANS )