Royal Shakespeare Company

And then finally we have our Borg Queen, played by Alice Krige.

Born 1954, South African-born actress who found success on the... ... stage with the Royal Shakespeare Company, the small screen, BBC, uh, in the UK before making the transition into really an eclectic mix of films.

Uh, you know, a lot of which are, you know, very art house.

There's some, uh, uh, some, some stop-motion animation, uh, in there, I believe.

And then finally we have our Borg Queen, played by Alice Krige.

Born 1954, South African-born actress who found success on the s- stage with the Royal Shakespeare Company, the small screen, BBC, uh, in the UK before making the transition into really an eclectic mix of films.

Uh, you know, a lot of which are, you know, very art house.

There's some, uh, uh, some, some stop-motion animation, uh, in there, I believe.

I think m-my brothers and my sister were, were slightly less interested than I was.

So there was never really a distinction in my mind between the panto and the Shakespeare, and I saw some fabulous Shakespeare in the '70s when the RSC was, was in its pomp, uh, with John Barton, Trevor Nunn, Terry Hands.

I saw-

Mm

And yeah, I became totally aware, and totally aware of the quality and the charisma of the actors.

I was watching Shakespeare for the first time with Judi Dench, Donald Sinden, Elizabeth Spriggs, Ian Richardson, Ian Holm, incredible actors.

And I think the legacy of Peter Hall, both at the RSC and the National, real serious scholarship married to flamboyant showmanship.

I think by the time I was in my mid-teens, I could absolutely tell the difference.

Austrian-born conductor who was famous for leading elite institutions like the Boston Symphony Orchestra and also the Metropolitan Opera.

Peter Hall passed away in 2017 at the age of 86 from dementia he was an internationally renowned theater and opera director who founded the Royal Shakespeare Company and also directed landmark operatic productions worldwide Leon Payne passed away in 1969 at the age of 52 following a heart attack.

He was known as the Blind Balladeer.

He was a legendary country music artist who wrote a lot of big hits for the genre, including Hank Williams' song Lost Highway.

And so that just happened to fall in line.

The Royal Shakespeare Company decided they had a window.

And then at the same time, Lionsgate contacted us.

So we got in touch and said, now you see me, three's coming out.

I went to see Michael, Michael Schaefer, in The Mad King.

That is George R. R. Martin's Game of Thrones The Mad King, to give it its full title, at the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford-upon-Avon.

Michael played the Mad King, Ares II Targaryen himself, and was sitting on the Iron Throne for much of the performance.

It was completely spectacular, sort of a jaw-dropping bit of theatre craft and an amazing performance by Michael and just a fantastic ensemble piece as well.

So everything in England is geared towards the West End.

The theatre, the Royal Shakespeare Company, the National Theatre or whatever.

And so you're trained to, you know, even if you may not be trained, your whole career is trained in that direction.

And that's what you think is a career.

But it's really weird.

I always knew, for me, my future would be in film.

Even when I was at the Royal Shakespeare Company when I was a kid.

So, yeah, and then, you know, 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s.