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?
