INTERVIEW: "I’ve Never Been Particularly Drawn To Straightforward Heroes" - David Tennant Talks To Newsweek
In a new interview with Iva Dixit for Newsweek, David Tennant talks about the role of Richard II, which he is currently reprising for the Royal Shakespeare Company in New York. David also talks about starring as Kilgrave in Marvel's Jessica Jones, his respect for Shakespeare and about playing the hero. Take a sneak peek at what he says below:
On Richard II:
“I’ve always loved this play! I saw it for the first time in
drama school. I saw Derek Jacobi do it. It’s just…the story of it! The
unexpectedness of it! The extraordinary journey of that central character, who
started out being so unlikable and so difficult to engage with, and yet
Shakespeare confounds you. And just when you believe that Bolingbroke’s done
the right thing—he allows Richard to discover humanity and discover perspective
and objectivity”
“I’ve never been particularly drawn to straightforward
heroes…Even when I played what you might call “heroic characters,” they’ve been
slightly off centre, slightly left field, you know? I’ll never play Superman,
you know what I mean?”
On Kilgrave's similarities to Richard:
“Nobody will ever say no to either of them. Imagine what that
must do to your psychology, and how must that form your character as you grow
up. In some ways, I think they’re both marooned in childhood.”
“Shakespeare has survived because he has extraordinary
things to say, and if we can hear them, they can enlighten us in a way that no
other playwright has ever quite managed to achieve.”
“…It’s been something of a liberation to have it as a wig
this time around.”
David is currently appearing at the BAM Harvey Theatre in Brooklyn in Richard II, part of the Royal Shakespeare Company's King & Country Great Cycle Of Kings. The play is being performed in rotation with Henry IV Parts 1 & 2 and Henry V. The cycle remains in residence until early May.
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