But what a pairing!
Lady Macbeth is surely one of the juiciest roles ever created for a ‘mature’ woman, right up there with Cruella de Vil and Miranda Priestly and Annie Wilkes. Scenery-chewing roles!
So this got me thinking about the other pairs that have brought Macbeth and Lady Macbeth to the stage and screen.
There was Dame Judi Dench who co-starred with Sir Ian McKellen. Helen Mirren who partnered with Nicol Williamson. Vivien Leigh who played the role opposite her then-husband, Laurence Olivier.
Which got me thinking: who would I love to see play Lady Macbeth? My 3 nominees:
Glenn Close
Kate McKinnon
Viola Davis
You’d get very different interpretations, that’s for sure.
How do you feel about Lady Macbeth, and who would you like to see play her. Extra points: opposite whom as MacBeth?
DEBORAH CROMBIE: How about Nicola Walker as Lady MacBeth, and Benedict Cumberbatch as MacBeth? Would that be totally awesome?
HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: I think--and stay with me here…. Taylor Swift as Lady Macbeth. Updated, she’s gorgeous and manipulative, and it would totally work. Then get maybe..David Tennant to be Macbeth. Edgy, and sharp, but smitten. Or...I am watching the new Mosquito Coast, which I’m loving, and I know I’m supposed to know Justin Theroux (who’s in it) but I didn’t, but I think he could really do it. So they’re younger .
Otherwise--Annette Benning. Ooh. That would REALLY work. Can’t you SEE that???
RHYS BOWEN: I second Glenn Close. I’d add Kristin Scott-Thomas.
How young do you think they were? I picture him young and a little naive but ambitious. A younger Kenneth Branagh might also have included a younger Emma Thompson. You can either play her powerful and terrifying or quieter and manipulating I once saw an avant-garde play called Macbeth,Medea and Cinderella in which three stories run simultaneously and I believe Kady Macbeth ended up with Jason!
JENN McKINLAY: Olivia Colman! I’ve had such a crush on her since Broadchurch and The Crown. She brings just the right amount of crazy to the part. What about Colin Firth to play opposite? How old is he now? Too old? I second Rhys’s Kristin Scott-Thomas - her cameo in Fleabag, a show everyone should see, was superb.
JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: I’ve been binge-watching THE EXPANSE, a wonderful science fiction show with five seasons (the last one is promised!) and some amazing characters. One of them would make a perfect Lady MacBeth - Sohreh Aghdashloo. She was nominated for an Oscar for her role as the matriarch of a refugee Iranian family in HOUSE OF SAND AND FOG, and she is perfect for characters who can be both aristocratic and capable of stabbing you in your sleep. Here are some moments of her performance as UN Secretary General Chrisjen Avasarala (warning: language!)
HALLIE: So many talented women we'd like to see navigate the sholes of blind ambition and guilt. Who would you like to see in the role? Extra points: paired with whom?
Oh, my . . . I love all the choices everyone mentioned . . . so many wonderful interpretations of Lady Macbeth. I’m going to have to figure out a way to see Frances McDormand and Denzel Washington . . . .
ReplyDeleteWho would I like to see in the Lady Macbeth role? Cate Blanchett, paired with David Tennant . . . .
Cate Blanchett! Perfect.
DeleteThis version of Macbeth sounds pretty good to me. Frances McDormand is one of the most fearless actors alive. I can't wait to see what she does with such a meaty role.
ReplyDeleteI just watched Nomadland on the plane coming back to the States. She was literally stripped to her finest essence. And was amazing.
Loved her in Three Billboards - I would love to see her in Olive Kitteridge but I haven't managed to do that yet. Fearless is the perfect word for her.
DeleteI'm totally with Nicola Walker or Olivia Colman. Brilliant actors with expressive, real-people faces, both. Not a clue about the pairings. Hallie, we also might have to subscribe to Apple TV just for the Dormand-Washington version!
ReplyDeleteI just realized who Nicola Walker is. She is an incredible actress!
DeleteLOVE Nicola Walker! Another 'fearless' actress.
DeleteCasting Mac Beth! What fun. For starters, I'd cast Sgt. Pepper as Spot, with Lottie as his understudy.
ReplyDeleteFor Lady MacBeth, I agree with all the above choice, especially Nicola Walker. And I'd add Leslie Manville, who I'm thinking may succeed Judy Dench in the hierarchy of British grand dames. On the other hand, why not Catriona MacPherson? She's got the accent down.
I've got it. Catriona and John Cleese. Come and be prepared to laugh for hours.
And bye the way, Jo Nesbo's MACBETH is a modern take on the Scottish play, part of the Hogarth Series a couple of years ago.
https://www.amazon.com/Macbeth-William-Shakespeares-Retold-Novel-ebook/dp/B073YX2FBD/ref=sr_1_2?crid=18S3C99ZWUPF5&dchild=1&keywords=macbeth+jo+nesbo&qid=1627902277&s=books&sprefix=MacBeth%2Caps%2C195&sr=1-2
Catriona and John Cleese, I would watch.
DeleteCracking up! Thanks, Ann...
DeleteAnd don't forget the witches from Hocus Pocus! Got to do this right.
DeleteJulia, we watched THE EXPANSE and are eagerly awaiting the sixth and final season. I can absolutely see Aghdashlook as Lady Macbeth.
ReplyDeleteI have a free 1-year subscription to Apple TV and this might be the thing I need to watch on it.
I would happily watch/listen to Shohreh Aghdashloo read the phone book. But she’s much more fun in The Expanse and would be an excellent Lady MacB.
DeleteI'm wracking my brain and feeling hopelessly out of date!
ReplyDeleteIt will be hard to improve on McDormand and Washington. Meryl Strep came to mind immediately. I love Ann's suggestion of Catriona and John Cleese! Yes - perfect pairing. Helena Bonham Carter and Liam Neeson would also be a hoot.
Helena Bonham Carter would chew up the scenery in that role!
DeleteAgree about Bonham Carter!
DeleteI'm cackling with delight at the thought of Helena Bonham Carter and Liam Neeson!
DeleteHelena Bonham Carter! She's so great in demented, coming-apart-at-the-seams roles.
DeleteIncluding Princess Margaret in the The Crown.
DeleteI like Kate McKinnon in the role, it would a comedic fun ride. Don't know who I would pair her with. Any suggestions?
ReplyDeleteBill Murray?
DeleteThe Scottish Play. Hartford Stage did it a couple of years ago and it was brilliant!
ReplyDeleteI do love the idea of a comical take-off with Catriona MacPherson and John Cleese but the combination of Denzel Washington and Frances McDormand is pretty heady. One of the problems in Hollywood is that an actor doesn't usually get that gravitas until he or she has aged out of the role. The ideal actor can be 20 or more years older than the character. I am for giving young actors the parts of young characters. But then, it is so much harder to publicize.
Nicola Walker is an excellent choice. Can't decide on a male lead. Maybe later.
ReplyDeleteOh, go full MI-5 and let Peter Firth do it.
DeleteNicola Walker for Lady Macbeth. Undecided about male lead. So many candidates from British crime tv. Martin Compston from Line of Duty? How old is Lady Macbeth? My college Shakespeare professor mandated they were teenagers and woe to anyone who disagreed.
ReplyDeleteThat’s fascinating! Teenagers… Really? Why did he/she think so?
DeleteI have always thought Macbeth had been around a block or two, but Lady M could certainly be a younger, hotter trophy wife. He's tired, and ready to settle, but she's ambitious and he wants to demonstrate his prowess to please her.
DeleteI googled HOW OLD IS MACBETH and got the answer IT'S FICTION. Just kidding. Apparently the pair are based on historical figures who would have been in their 30s. But nuance is a big part of the roles so lots is up to the actors and director to interpret.
Deletewhat if Lady M was a cougar, her clueless younger husband in her thrall?
DeleteI SO agree, Gigi! Trophy wife. TAYLOR SWIFT.
DeleteOh, Margaret, that's good, too!
DeleteI like Olivia Colman or Nicola Walker. I can see Benedict Cumberbatch, he could do the weak indecisive character. Or Martin Compston, he’s got the accent. But David Tennant would probably be best. And he works well with Olivia Colman.
ReplyDeleteI don’t think they were teenagers. I always thought at least in their 30’s.
Any time you want to have fun with Shakespeare, track down the version of Much Ado About Nothing that David Tennant did with Catherine Tate. It is so good! So inventive. Really funny in a way that's totally true to the play.
DeleteReminding me: I was SO LUCKY to see a production of TAMING OF THE SHREW with Meryl Streep and Raoul Julia free in Central Park. Riveting. And an utterly unique take on the relationship. And, as I recall, very sexy.
DeleteRaoul Julia? Anything with him would be sexy!
DeleteI love most of these choices!! (Taylor Swift?) Macbeth is one of my favorite of his plays. I saw a production in NYC with Patrick Stewart as Maccers with a much younger Lady M.played by Kate Fleetwood. It got filmed and is on Prime. I also saw the NTLive version with Kenneth Branagh and Alex Kingston. So good. I'd love to see Annette Benning in the role. Or Lupita Nyong'o would be fab.
ReplyDeleteHallie, have you ever seen SLINGS AND ARROWS? Season 2 is about Macbeth. Such a great show.
Ooh, jealous! I would love to have seen Branagh and Kingston!
DeleteDitto that, Debs. I'd see Branagh in anything and Alex Kingston is divine!
DeleteSlings and Arrows - writing it down! And goig to check Prime for Patrick Stewart/Macbeth - I heart Jean-Luc
DeleteUpstart Crow, on Britbox I think.
DeleteLOVE Slings and Arrows! And yes, Taylor Swift. Trust me. x
DeleteIf we're casting younger, how about Dev Patel and Alicia Vikander? Having just seen them together in The Green Knight, I think they would be totally awesome.
ReplyDeleteOr Dev and Erin Kellyman (Winifred)? I thought they had a nice energy together and she was relentless. You know I'd vote for Dev in almost anything.
DeleteCharlize Theron and Clive Owen.
ReplyDeleteGreat combo
DeleteI'd go with Kristin Scott-Thomas. She always manages to suggest layers upon layers. And yes, Annette Bening would be great. (Remember The Grifters?) I've only seen MacBeth once, and it was the production Julie mentions above. I guess I thought Kate Fleetwood was fine, but barely remember her. though yes, the age difference suggested a very believable dynamic. BUT Stewarts outstanding MacBeth kind of swept everyone else from my mind.
ReplyDeleteOverall, interesting idea that they were younger than usually played. Makes sense. (NOT teens! that's ridiculous)
NOT TEENS! I agree.
DeleteOne of the actresses I've been impressed with lately is Rosalind Eleazar, who played Agnes in The Personal History of David Copperfield. She has tremendous presence, intelligence, and a leashed energy that could give us a wonderfully wicked Lady Macbeth. I'd go with the older man/younger woman model and pair her with somebody like Jason Isaacs as Macbeth. I'll bet they both have the chops.
ReplyDeleteNo one does edgy better than David Tennant. He would be an awesome MacBeth. And for Lady MacBeth? I think Michelle Dockery would fill the bill. Anyone watch her in the TV show Good Behavior? So good.
ReplyDeleteOh, yes, she brings a wicked sense of charm with her. Love it.
DeleteAnd Jared Harris is such a chameleon. He could probably play all the parts!
ReplyDeleteI hadn't thought about Macbeth, but Sir Ben Kingsley played opposite Sohreh Agdashloo in the aforementioned HOUSE OF SAND AND FOG (he got an Oscar nod as well) and I think he'd make an unexpected but brilliant Macbeth.
ReplyDeleteBTW, for those of you who can't get enough Shakespeare, the BBC did a four-part series in 2006 titled "ShakespeaRe-told," that does exactly what it says in the title; the films re-tell classic plays. Macbeth is Joe Macbeth, a bitterly ambitious chef in a celebrity restaurant, who is promised by three garbage men that he, not owner Duncan Docherty, will bring the eatery a prized Michelin three star rating. Lots of knives in that kitchen....
I loved that series, got to watch it on a trip to the UK in 2008.
DeleteWHAT? I have NEVER heard of this, and finding it right now.
DeleteYes, I can see Soheeh as Lady MacBeth. I can see Kristin Scott Thomas as Lady MacBeth. There are many actresses who could play her. Somehow I see Tilda Swinton as Lady MacBeth and maybe Hugh Grant as MacBeth or David Bamber as MacBeth.
ReplyDeleteDiana
What a good question: How old are they actually supposed to be?
ReplyDeleteSohreh Aghdashloo was on a season of 24, and she was absolutely amazing. It's a shame we didn't get more of her on that show.
ReplyDeleteYes, i loved that show. She was fantastic!
DeleteHow about Nicola Walker as MacBeth and Benedict Cumberbatch as Lady MacBeth? I have seen the Scottish Play so many times done traditionally. I want to see something different.
ReplyDeleteI love all the suggestions. I immediately thought of Meryl Streep, too. You can bet she'd do something different with it. But I love the Viola Davis idea, as well.
ReplyDeleteI love the Viola Davis idea, too!
Delete