‘It’s worth having a little mention of Shakespeare. Because, in my experience there is no other writer - as an actor - who demands so much. It doesn’t have to be heavy, his comedies can be - and are - hilarious… But the line between comedy and tragedy is very thin; and so you’re still investigating the same things. You’re still investigating the truth of it, I suppose. But the demand of Shakespeare - if you’re going to do it well - is that you have to hone the technicality of delivering the verse and the words, and making sure they can be clearly heard and understood. So there’s an intellectual demand there - to honour the poet, a physical one - to honour the character, and then a kind of spiritual one - to honour the profundity of some of the things he’s saying. And every time I’ve done a big Shakespearean part… there’s an extra dimension and clarity to my life, at that time. I’ve sort of synchronised watches with Shakespeare’s mind, and the ask is that you go as deeply as you can into the things you are investigating. With Coriolanus: the corrosive power of rage; the rage of that man; the destruction that his rage reeks on his family, his friends, those he loves, on the city of Rome; that actually this rage was once a useful thing that propelled him into war, made him a war machine, a fearless soldier and a hero, but given full vent it only destroys. It doesn’t build. And having to even feel that, in myself was a profound experience.’
~ Josie Rourke and Tom Hiddleston talk Shakespeare, [Pt 2]
