Introduction

In this lesson, students will explore how director Sir Richard Eyre made casting decisions in his 2018 film adaptation of Shakespeare’s King Lear.  

King Lear has been made into numerous films, the first being a five-minute German film made around 1905 of which no copies exist. In 1909, the silent film producer Vitagraph made a version that crammed the entire plot into a 10-minute film. Two Italian directors each made a silent version in 1910. A French version followed called Le Roi Lear Au Village, and in 1914, American Ernest C. Warde made a one-hour version that included a culminating battle scene. 

Several adaptations ensued, including Broken Lance (1954) in which Spencer Tracy plays a cattle baron whose youngest son, Joe, remains loyal, while his older brothers betray their father. In 1953, a television version aired starring Orson Welles as Lear in his American TV debut. In 1971, Paul Scofield starred in a controversial film version directed by Peter Brook which played up the absurdist qualities of Shakespeare’s play. 

There have been several adaptations and borrowings of the Lear story, notably Akira Kurosawa’s Ran (1985); Jocelyn Moorhouse’s A Thousand Acres (1997) based on Jane Smiley’s 1991 novel, King of Texas (2002), in which Patrick Stewart plays the role of wealthy landowner John Lear; and The Lears (2017), starring Bruce Dern in the title role. Ian McKellen played Lear in a 2008 version by the Royal Shakespeare Company. Note that clips of most of these films are available to students on YouTube.

Materials

  • King Lear by William Shakespeare
    Buy Now
  • King Lear directed by Sir Richard Eyre

Lesson Objectives

1. Students will review and briefly discuss the characters in King Lear as portrayed in the 2018 film. 

2. Students will evaluate and discuss the casting choices in Eyre’s King Lear.

Instructional Sequence

This activity is designed to be completed after students have read all of King Lear by William Shakespeare. 

1. As a class, review the list of characters in the play. Ask students to imagine what each character looks like and who they might cast from either their school community or from Hollywood today. 

2. Pass out the Casting in Richard Eyre’s King Lear worksheet. 

3. Present Eyre’s film King Lear to the class. As students watch the film, focus their attention on the casting decisions made by the director: 

Anthony Hopkins, Lear
Emma Thompson, Goneril
Emily Watson, Regan
Jim Broadbent, Gloucester
Florence Pugh, Cordelia
Jim Carter, Earl of Kent
Andrew Scott, Edgar
John Macmillan, Edmund
Tobias Menzies, Cornwall
Anthony Calf, Albany
Karl Johnson, the Fool
Christopher Eccleston, Oswald

Remind students to pay close attention to each character and how the actor portrays him or her. 

For each character, invite students to consider these questions: 

Why is this actor suited to play this role?
Is this how you imagined this character when you read the play? If not, why? 

4. As they watch, instruct students to make notes in columns 3 and 4 of their worksheets about the casting choices. This includes physical descriptions, voice, and age as well as the style and tone each actor brings to his or her role.  

5. Once students have watched the film, have them write a brief evaluation of each actor in column 5. Was each casting choice excellent, good, fair, or poor? Why? Students should be able to defend their judgments with evidence. 

6. Have students read online reviews of the film to further inform their judgments about the cast and give them an opportunity to add to their evaluations. 

7. Challenge students to cast the film from within their school community (faculty and students) and then from the greater modern Hollywood community. Have them write their choices in columns 6 and 7.

8. As a class or in small groups, have students share and discuss their evaluations and casting choices.

Differentiated Instruction

This activity can be modified to help all students access learning.
Decrease difficulty

Before students watch the movie, work as a class to list the qualities in an actor that would be necessary to play the title role. Students might mention age, versatility, passion, a booming voice, or the ability to play both strength and weakness. Record student responses on the board.

Have students work in pairs to complete the worksheets.

Increase difficulty

Invite students to watch another film version of King Lear from the choices listed above to compare and contrast the actors chosen to play the various roles. Invite them to share and discuss which actors they thought were better cast, along with the reasons for their preferences.

Downloads