No, I didn’t get to talk to Sir Ian, that would be a dream come true! But someone else did and got it all on video. It’s not quite an interview, this is sort of like a video lesson on Shakespeare taught by Sir Ian McKellen. It’s wonderful!
The focus is the video is Richard III and his explanation of the opening speech (“Now is the winter of our discontent / Made glorious summer…”). But there are other videos as well including some history, comparisons of the speech from three different film versions, Sir Ian talking about Shakespeare in education, storytelling, comparisons of Shakespeare to Lord of the Rings to X-Men, and more!
This is an awesome resource for everyone tackling Shakespeare in some way, shape, or form. Even if you think you have no reason to learn about Richard III, check it out anyway. Most of what he says can be applied universally to Shakespeare. It’s also great to see such a great actor speaking these lines with such ease and understanding every bit of it. Watch everything! There are lots of little videos about so many different things and it’s all good. It’ll take a long time to get through everything but it’s totally worth it.
My favorite part is his comparison between Richard and a biscuit. I’m going to leave you hanging about that so you’ll go and watch it!
