Saoirse Ronan Says Kim and Kanye Inspired the Roles of Almeida Macbeth | Theater

Quadruple Oscar nominee Saoirse Ronan and Easttown Mare’s James McArdle said they took inspiration from Kim Kardashian and Kanye West for their latest stage roles as Macbeth.

Ronan, who makes her UK stage debut as Lady Macbeth in Yael Farber’s production at London’s Almeida Theater, said she and McArdle decided to compare Shakespeare’s tragic characters to a “couple. of modern power ”.

“We continue to think of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth as a Kim and Kanye situation where there have been steps to their success and real ups and downs,” she told the BBC in an interview. .

Kim and Kanye – often known by the “Kimye” coat rack – announced earlier this year that they are divorcing after seven years of marriage. They started dating in 2012 and tied the knot in May 2014 in a lavish ceremony in a 16th-century fortress in Florence.

Ronan called them “a couple who are professional but also have tenderness,” adding: There is so much about their private life that we don’t know.

She said she and McArdle found it helpful to call their characters Susan and Neil Macbeth “because this is a domestic tragedy about a couple.”

“The tragedy is that these two people who are soul mates and peers and very partners in every way…,” she said.

The Macbeth Tragedy, as it will be presented, opens on October 1. Almeida art director Rupert Goold said he exhibited a “more equivalent relationship” between the Macbeths than is usually shown. Production was in the works before cinemas closed due to the pandemic and Goold said he was relieved he was able to keep a team of such sought-after talent.

Ronan, who was acclaimed on Broadway in a production of The Crucible in 2016, is one of several “Amazing Young Actors” in Almeida’s new season.

The 27-year-old Irish actor was first put in the limelight in the movie Atonement at the age of 13 and has established himself as a star in films such as Brooklyn, Lady Bird and Little Women. She has previously appeared alongside McArdle in period dramas Mary Queen of Scots and Ammonite.

The Olivier McArdle nominee, who was recently seen on screens as deacon Mark Burton in HBO’s hit film Mare of Eastown, said Macbeth had been “sidetracked by the horror concept.”

“What we wanted more than anything was a functional marriage. A love story,” he told the BBC. He added that he often received “obscene” messages from his former co-star Kate Winslet. “She’s coming to see Macbeth,” he said. “The Easttown mare.”