I don't think of 'Macbeth' as the villain. I don't think of 'King Lear' as the villain. I don't think of 'Hamlet' as the villain. I don't think of 'Travis Bickle' as the villain.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
I think there is this huge hole in Shakespeare that you do not know why Macbeth is who he is.
Shakespeare's villains are fabulous because none of them know that they are villains. Well, sometimes they do.
Historically, Macbeth is one of the greatest kings Scotland ever had. He was on the throne for 19 years, and he simply has this dreadful reputation because Shakespeare manipulated history for the benefit of James I, who was paying him to write the play to blacken Macbeth's name.
Macbeth is contending with the realities of this world, Hamlet with those of the next.
If someone has to be the villain, I'll be the villain. I have no problem with it. The movies still say, 'Starring... the villain.'
No actor can play a villain if they don't sympathise with him or her - otherwise the character just becomes a two-dimensional caricature.
Tony Blair is not a villain, but he's played the part very well.
'Macbeth' is an amazing story.
I understand being the villain is what people like. People play to that. They want to know about the villain.
I have been thinking a lot about what we see in villains, how we relate to villains, and what it is about certain villains that we actually empathize with. Like Macbeth. We're not supposed to like a guy who kills the king and takes over, but there's something about him we're really fascinated by.