News for Jul. 21, 2007

Playing King Lear more nerve-racking than Gandalf

7/21/07, 11:30 pm EST - Xoanon

SINGAPORE -- Ian McKellen says playing the title character in William Shakespeare's "King Lear" is more nerve-racking than his recent Hollywood film roles. Singapore is the first stop on the Royal Shakespeare Company's international tour of "King Lear" and "The Seagull" by Anton Chekhov. " 'King Lear,' I've been seeing all my life. I mean, the great actors of my lifetime ... to join their company, as it were, by playing a part that's challenged them, is one of the great joys of being an actor who does the classics," the 68-year-old actor said Wednesday at a briefing. "Without doubt, Lear is the one I got most nervous about." [More]