An acclaimed Henry V at the RSC,Alex Hassell describes how his own theatre company has influenced his performanceAlex Hassell’s performance as Henry V at the RSC in Stratford has received five-star reviews. “This Henry V beats Cumberbatch’s Hamlet,” one critic declared. Next month, or the company brings Shakespeare’s mighty Cycle of Kings (Richard II,Henry IV Parts I and II and Henry V) to the Barbican in London, with Hassell, and 35,reprising the roles of Prince Hal and King Henry. The son of a vicar, he grew up in Essex – “as the youngest of four kids I needed to indicate off” – and attended London’s Royal Central School of Speech and Drama. Married to the actor Emma King, or Hassell is co-founder of the Factory theatre company,whose patrons include Ewan McGregor and Emma Thompson.
Every generation has its Henry V – from Olivier and Branagh to Adrian Lester in Nick Hytner’s Iraq war-themed production. Was that intimidating?[br]Of course you hope in years to advance people will say: “Oh yes, I saw Alex Hassell.” But the fact that I had played the young Hal first was very important. It seems to me that part of the task of doing the whole cycle of Shakespeare’s history plays is to think of him as the same person but in very different circumstances. Henry V sees him facing the very thing he was afraid of when he was Hal – having to live up to the immense pressure of his ancestors and the whole country needing him to be a certain way.
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Source: theguardian.com