Sir Anthony Hopkins is to be the latest actor to take on the role as King Lear in a big screen adaption of the Shakespeare tragedy.Newbie director Josh Michael Stern has assembled an all-star cast for the ambitious film, which is due to start shooting in Britain or Ireland early next year.The Kings three daughters will be played by Gwyneth Paltrow, Naomi Watts and Kiera Knightley and Stern insists there will be many more suitable big-name surprises in his blockbuster.He says, "It's going to be really good... The one thing that I'm staying away from is stunt casting, so there won't be the American comedian, but there will be some really great actors playing smaller roles that will make a lot of sense".In a bid to keep the film as authentic as possible, Stern plans to use Shakespeare's original dialogue, he said: "I'm not very fond of the modern adaptations... It's pre-Roman, Celtic, very raw. It's a period in British history, from which (Lord of The Rings author)
Tolkien took a lot of his inspiration, where there were thatched-roof roundhouses and fortresses".Stern's new Lear will give Hopkins the chance to revisit a character that won him acclaim on stage - the Oscar winner played the king in revered playwright David Hare's King Lear production at the National Theatre in London in the late 1980s.The director adds, "Hopkins is thrilled."
Hopkins to be the next Lear
Sir Anthony Hopkins is to be the latest actor to take on the role as King Lear in a big screen adaption of the Shakespeare tragedy.Newbie director Josh Michael Stern has assembled an all-star cast for the ambitious film, which is due to start shooting in Britain or Ireland early next year.The Kings three daughters will be played by Gwyneth Paltrow, Naomi Watts and Kiera Knightley and Stern insists there will be many more suitable big-name surprises in his blockbuster.He says, "It's going to be really good... The one thing that I'm staying away from is stunt casting, so there won't be the American comedian, but there will be some really great actors playing smaller roles that will make a lot of sense".In a bid to keep the film as authentic as possible, Stern plans to use Shakespeare's original dialogue, he said: "I'm not very fond of the modern adaptations... It's pre-Roman, Celtic, very raw. It's a period in British history, from which (Lord of The Rings author)
Tolkien took a lot of his inspiration, where there were thatched-roof roundhouses and fortresses".Stern's new Lear will give Hopkins the chance to revisit a character that won him acclaim on stage - the Oscar winner played the king in revered playwright David Hare's King Lear production at the National Theatre in London in the late 1980s.The director adds, "Hopkins is thrilled."