| Ian Holm ... Lear Michael Bryant ... Fool David Burke ... Kent Barbara Flynn ... Goneril David Lyon ... Albany Holm was 10 years younger than Olivier when he filmed this scene. The youthful energy helps. Olivier's version here: www.youtube.com from an interview with Ian Holm: Could you contrast your own Lear with some of the other celebrated interpretations, for example those of Laurence Olivier and Paul Scofield? All I can say is that mine was subjectively an unfussy performance. I tried to be as clear as the text allowed. I didn't see Olivier's, except his television performance in the last days of his life. It was really rather a sad affair. It was more King Olivier than King Lear. Paul Scofield I saw, a great performance in a very different production by Peter Brook. All performances are different. I don't think it's necessary to compare one with another. I am just me playing the role of Lear. You're bound to get a Holm approach to it, whatever that may be. I just got out there and did it. I'm very much a doer in my acting. Anyway, you cannot play the king on your own. Richard Eyre surrounded me with an absolutely brilliant cast: a magnificent Kent and wonderful performers like Michael Bryant as the Fool. Good idea to have an elderly Fool, I think -- an old guy who's been around the court all his life cracking bad jokes. It becomes a sort of gerontocracy, a story about old men. I don't think that's going against the text at all. How would you describe your acting ... |
