Sir Ian McKellen, one of Britain's most admired actors and the star of blockbuster films like X-Men and Lord of the Rings, was afraid that playing tragic Shakespearean character King Lear onstage would drive him mad, he says, and intitially fought against playing the role.
McKellen's illustrious Shakespeare resume includes memorable turns as Romeo, Macbeth, Coriolanus, Leontes, Richard II, Iago, Richard III (also on screen), and Prospero, and he has even appeared twice before in King Lear, as Edgar and as Kent.
But he was still wary, according to the NY Times:
"This is a form of blood sport," he said good-naturedly in a conversation here late in the spring. "The fun of going to see King Lear is to watch actors toppled from whatever status they have as the part defeats them."
McKellen also said, according to IMDb:
"It was one of those parts that I didn't want to play... I'd seen, at close quarters, two Lears (actors) and what it cost them. You have to go full pelt at it, 100 percent, with every part of your make-up, at certain points of the evening. I worried for the health, if not the sanity, of the two actors that I was very close to... and I began to think, 'Was it really worth (it), ' to tell a story that is well known and which other actors have
succeeded in."
Judging from King Lear's glowing reviews and sold-out shows, it was worth it, indeed.
-- Daniel Lehman