King Lear (2018) Online

King Lear (2018) Online

An aging King invites disaster, when he abdicates to his corrupt, toadying daughters, and rejects his loving and honest one.

At one point, Anthony Hopkins tried to adapt the play into a movie and intended to star as the titular King Lear. Naomi Watts was cast as Goneril, Gwyneth Paltrow as Regan and Keira Knightley as Cordelia but the project never got off the ground and was eventually canceled.

"King Lear" will mark the third film in which Academy Award Winner Anthony Hopkins and Two-time Academy Award Winner Emma Thompson join forces. They collaborated previously on Was vom Tage übrig blieb (1993) and Wiedersehen in Howards End (1992). Interestingly, in the previous two films they portrayed each others' love interests, in this one they are father and daughter.

This will be Anthony Hopkins' third time playing the titular character in a production based on a Shakespeare play, he previously played Othello and Titus Adronicus. He also played as Claudius in Hamlet.

Florence Pugh, who plays youngest daughter Cordelia, recalled feeling "terrified" when she attended the table read for the film because "absolutely every actor I've looked up to and my family's been talking about my entire life was in one room."

Both Anthony Hopkins and Christopher Ecceslston had appeared together in Thor: The Dark World

Emma Thompson, who plays Goneril in this adaptation of "King Lear" has said, "Lear is an appalling man. And he's abused his children to such a degree that they are also appalling. Goneril is the mirror into which Lear looks and goes 'I don't like that'."

Emma Thompson, who plays Lear's daughter Goneril has said of Anthony Hopkins' performance in the film, "I will never see a better Lear, I know that. I will die not having seen anyone do it better."

Andrew Scott, who plays Edgar, recently played Hamlet to great acclaim on the West End. Anthony Hopkins played Claudius in the 1969 film of 'Hamlet'

Edmund directly addresses the camera several times during "King Lear," breaking the fourth wall. Actor John Macmillan found this action significant; according to him, "the viewer is the only person Edmund has an honest relationship with."

When Emily Watson (Regan) recalled being offered her role in "King Lear" she said, "It's like being called up to play cricket for England."

Anthony Hopkins has said of the Lear story, "It's not about royalty and kings - it's about a terrible family ... Lear is a dangerous man - he drinks too much, gets violent, is impossible. He wants to hang on to his power because it gives him meaning."

Doone Forsyth worked on the makeup for Hopkins' character, King Lear alongside Sara Kramer. Hopkins has said, "I had the idea that perhaps Lear drinks too much and it shows, so [they] put a little blush around my nose and mouth to get that mottling - and seeing myself made up like that for the first time I thought, 'That's him'."

Actor Jim Broadbent has said that the thrilling advantage of performing Shakespeare on location over on the stage is that an actor can leverage the real-world surroundings in playing a character as opposed to the experience of working on stage, "where you sometimes look off into the wings and just see coffee cups and a few stagehands looking bored."

Eyre wanted the color palette of "King Lear" to reflect the tragic trajectory of the main protagonist. Over the course of the film, the visuals shift from the opening scenes of richness and prosperity, gradually desaturating and progressing toward bleaker tones and starker visuals.

Richard Eyre has said of his choice of filming locations, "I wanted the play, which was written in 1606, to resonate with some buildings that have existed even longer than the play itself."

Anthony Hopkins has said that, according to an old saying, "by the time you are old enough to play Lear, you're too old to play Lear."

In the 2015 film, "The Dresser," Anthony Hopkins plays an aging actor, preparing to take the stage as King Lear. The film's executive producers were captivated by the idea of Hopkins playing Lear on film and began to conceive of a direct adaptation of Shakespeare's play, starring Hopkins.

Production designer Peter Francis achieved Richard Eyre's vision of the contemporary established within the confines of the historic by integrating sleek furniture and set dressings, such as the plate glass table and leather executive chairs in Lear's boardroom, into the ancient backdrop of the Tower of London.

Eyre made the integral decision to set the film adaptation of "King Lear" in a fictional modern-day era, in which Lear heads a dictatorship in a familiar yet dystopian version of England.

According to Richard Eyre, "King Lear" is about love: "Paternal love, the love of children for their father, flouted love, corrupted love, spiritual love, sexual love - symphonic variations on the theme of love. When the family disintegrates, the state disintegrates - so it ties the personal and political together in a way that is completely remarkable."

Richard Eyre was adamant that the military uniforms seen in the film be as realistic as possible; his concept of Lear's world is that it should be permeated by the culture and ethos of a military occupation.

Executive producer Colin Callender has said, "One of the great wonders of being able to shoot this on film is the ability to bring together a cast which would never be available to you on stage."

In real life, Jim Carter, who plays the Earl of Kent in "King Lear" and Jim Broadbent who plays the Earl of Gloucester are very old friends.

Actor John Macmillan, who plays Edmund, has said of his character's grudge against Edgar, "Imagine what it would be like to be the product of a ministerial scandal. Because Edmund is for all intents and purposes a bastard, as well as a younger son, he's not going to inherit anything."

Costume designer Fotini Dimou has said that she draws much of her inspiration for costume designs from the actor inhabiting the character.

According to Fotini Dimou, "Lear's family are all protected people, so I wanted to express their background, social class and the opulence through their clothing - it's a comfortable world in that it's wealthy, but it's not a psychologically comfortable world."

According to Anthony Hopkins, though he had played the role of Lear before, this adaptation offered him the opportunity to play the character, backed by a much deeper understanding of who he is since Hopkins was closer to the King Lear's presumed age, during this production, than he'd been when he tackled the role in the 1980's.

"King Lear" was filmed entirely on location at recognizable English heritage sites such as Dover Castle, Hatfield House and the iconic Tower of London, which dates back to the 11th Century.

In discussing the psychology of the daughters in "King Lear," Emma Thompson has said, "Goneril and Regan have always been in competition for their father's affections, as people who have been abused often crave the love and approval of their abusers, especially when that person is a parent."

One of the most well-known scenes from Shakespeare's play was re-imagined and filmed at a refugee camp, built from scratch by the production team at Pitstone Quarry in Buckinghamshire, England.

Actor Jim Carter, who plays the Earl of Kent has said there was a lot of history on set. "I've known Emma for thirty years, Karl Johnson for thirty-five years. I've known Richard Eyre since 1982, and in fact he introduced me to my wife."

It was important to Richard Eyre that the film's narrative remain accessible to audiences. Shakespeare sets the play in a fabricated pre-Christian period in history. Eyre's priority was to maintain the characters, language, thematic intentions and overall meaning of Shakespeare's work, while lowering the barrier for entry to contemporary viewers.

Actor Jim Broadbent has worked with director Richard Eyre five times previously.

All of the military props used in the film were from authentic combat supply companies.

Many of the filming locations featured in "King Lear" were seats of power for bygone English monarchs and landed gentry, while others, like Shakespeare Cliff at Samphire Hoe Country Park, were chosen specifically for their connection to Shakespeare and "King Lear."

According to producers, many passersby at the shopping center location didn't realize that Anthony Hopkins was in costume for his role in "King Lear" and assumed he was a homeless person.

The costumes for King Lear were a deliberate mix of elements from the 20th Century and contemporary times. Costume designer Fotini Dimou purposely avoided designing anything that would appear extremely futuristic.

Emily Watson, who plays the king's spiteful middle daughter Regan in this version of "King Lear," formerly played Anthony Hopkins' wife, Her Ladyship, in the film "The Dresser."

At Gloucester's home, which was filmed at Hatfield House, just north of London, Francis decided to keep the furnishings minimal and let the architecture speak for itself. Overall, the production design was executed in a reserved way, to give the interior spaces an under-dressed, uncluttered appearance.

Dover Castle, the largest castle in England, dating back to the 11th Century, was the filming location for scenes taking place at the English military base.

Director Richard Eyre first attempted an adaptation of "King Lear" in 1997. It was his last production at the National Theatre, where he had served as Artistic Director for ten years.

Anthony Hopkins first portrayed Shakespeare's doomed king in director David Hare's 1986 production at the UK's famed National Theatre.

This film adaptation of "King Lear" was inspired by Anthony Hopkins's 2015 turn in Richard Eyre's adaptation of the play "The Dresser," which aired on BBC Two.

Richard Eyre has said that the film's subtitle, if it had one, would have been "Being human."

Anthony Hopkins and Emma Thompson previously worked together in the critically acclaimed films "The Remains of the Day" and "Howard's End."