Aneurin Barnard as the future Richard III in The White Queen
I wasn't sure what or if I would post anything for KRA Week this year, but I have had something on my mind regarding Richard III and his public image. You see, I've been watching The White Queen (BBC) on US Cable TV channel Starz these past few weeks and I've become more and more aware that Richard III has had a makeover.
No, Richard III wasn't ambushed by Hoda and Kathie Lee (American TV presenters - you may remember they interviewed Richard Armitage) and whisked away to have his hair and makeup done, but he has been undergoing a change of image in the public eye recently.
From this:
Kevin Spacey as Shakespeare's Richard III (2011)
More of the actors who played Shakespeare's Richard III
through the decades
Olivier and his image and interpretation of Richard III was the one I grew up with. I have to confess the scene in the video clip below is still a favorite of mine. Despite the words and the fright wig, there is still something seductive about Olivier's Richard.
To this:
Aneurin Barnard as Richard III in The White Queen (2013)
A fictional Richard III, though not Shakespeare's version
But now a handsome, young, romantic leading man
Aneurin Barnard was certainly influenced by the discovery of the remains of Richard III:
‘It was a really odd moment to be playing him,’ recalls Aneurin. ‘He’s been dead for 500 years and the disappearance of his body was one of those great historical mysteries. And then he was found.
'I became completely obsessed with looking at his bones and it started to feel like he was haunting me. I started having these weird nightmares where it felt like he might enter my body and seek vengeance. “Oh God, he’s coming for me!”’
Despite this new image, Richard III's story is still waiting to be told.
For some of us this will be a holiday weekend. What better way to spend it than catching up on the very informative interviews and blog posts from KRA Week 2013.
Click HERE
Resemblance?
Aneurin Barnard tweeted a link to this video today (8/28/13):
Loved this and made a link in a comment on my KRA Week 2013 post about KR3.
ReplyDeleteI also watched, "The White Queen" series and thought that Aneurin Barnard was completely natural as a young Duke of Gloucester. And I do see some comparison with Richard Armitage's portrayal and physicality of Sir Guy of Gisborne, too.
Hi Grati,
DeleteThank you so much for including the link to my post on your KRA Week list. I need to catch up this weekend and read your wonderful KRA posts. Glad you liked my post.
I'm glad you agree with me about the resemblance. I think Barnard could play the younger R3 and RA play the older R3 in a TV series, don't you think? Richard gave so many layers to Guy's personality and motivation for his actions.
Great post! I'd love to see this series. The actor playing RIII looks enough like RA to play his younger brother or something.
ReplyDeleteHello!
DeleteI think you would like the series, though it hasn't focused on R3 yet, right now he's the good brother to Edward, but I'm looking forward to seeing more of him in future episodes.
Happy you liked my post.
Hi Fabo! I just finished The White Queen (Starz series) last night and of course I became obsessed w/ Richard III now. I like that this portrayal is NOT the fictionalized Shakespeare version that paints him like a hunchbacked monster. It made me wonder how Richard's project about making a miniseries of Richard III is coming along. I'd love to see him play the role but he's too old though now as King Richard died at age 32. Heck I'd love to see Aneurin Barnard play him again, he's only 29 now so he'd still be the right age if they make the series in a couple of years time. In any case, I sure hope it's happening as I want to see THIS version than the Shakespeare one.
ReplyDelete