Ian McKellen and Anthony Hopkins on Shakespeare, acting and the lure of British theatre

The acting titans on working together for the first time in BBC2 drama The Dresser and why one of them can’t keep a straight face in rehearsal…

The assistant director’s call for silence in London’s Hackney Empire is a formality. In the stalls of this Victorian theatre, film extras are taut with expectation. Up on the stage, three knights of the realm appear to be engaged in a group hug. Not what you expect from Sir Anthony Hopkins, Sir Ian McKellen and Sir Richard Eyre.

The stage clears, a spotlight beams down, and Hopkins reappears, transformed from chuckling backslapper to towering tragedian. He launches into King Lear’s “Blow, winds, and crack your cheeks!…”, sending up phrases like flares in the stage-storm. Over on sound effects, McKellen is knocking hell out of an old-fashioned thunder sheet, plunging and rearing to Shakespeare’s wild word-music like a man possessed. It’s a heart bursting performance from two of our greatest living actors and the applause from the stalls is unstoppable. As one awed extra puts it, “This isn’t a job. This is a masterclass.” RadioTimes.com