Very interesting point about the relationships forged between men in battle. Remember that famous scene in Act I where Iago says to Othello, "My Lord, you haven't been this nervous since we fell into that nest of Gundarks!" Oh.... oh wait...
I saw this at the Theatre, it was amazing! Great actors that created a fantastic atmosphere in the really small theatre. I doubt I'll ever see anything better!
We became used to seeing Ewan playing good guys (even his Renton turns out to be a smart fellow finally) while he is such a talented actor and there is no emotion he couldn't show. Including rage, jealousy, hatred and passion. So I was happy to know he is not a Jedi anymore - but the pure evil! And this role seems to be written especially for Mac - a handsome cover for the ugliest abyss of evil intentions. A very handsome cover. I'm in love, damn it!
Sorry to once again come down on the side of Coleridge, but I think 'motive-hunting' just ends up cheapening Iago's character. I think he stands as one of the most extreme experimentations in character in Shakespeare. He is a character so utterly evil that he's not even inhuman, he's a creature so psychologically remote from our ideas of motive and choice that his very existence is a matter of existential terror. He ceases to be representative of evil and becomes conceptual evil.
I feel that an important distinction here though is that Ewan Mcgregor is speaking from an actor's point of view on the character that he was portraying. As an actor it is important to get into the mindset of a character and so "motive hunting" is actually very valid when approaching character embodiment. From an audience perspective or literary point of view I can understand your points, but as an actor I would never in a thousand lifetimes seek to approach my character as their "very existence [being] a matter of existential terror." You can't really play that as effectively as you can what Ewan is depicting. As an actor you don't embody concepts in as much as you embody actions and reactions that conflict with a character's belief systems. For instance, Iago could hypothetically believe that his "very existence is a matter of existential terror", but you embody that effectively by humanizing that belief as much as possible, rather than dehumanizing it through getting lost in abstract conceptulizations. When acting (unless you're doing theatre of the absurd or something really out there) you generally want to make the characters motives and behaviors as concrete as possible when embodying your role, otherwise it can be very easy to become lost in one's own projections of our own lives when performing through not having any clear action or motives to ground ourselves in. In acting I think that motives are quite important in character development, but in experiencing a piece maybe not so much. I find Iago to be very human as a character, but as an audience member I agree with you that the effect that he can have on an audience can be that of what you are describing.
Appreciate that OP posted literally six years ago. To play devil's advocate, you could say that lacking the clear and decisive motivation is actually to the detriment of Iago's character; we always cart out the notion in literature that characters need motivations to be believable and true, yet we give Iago a free pass under the guise of, "well, he is just the manifestation of evil". Bollocks. The way that Ewan framed it, that Iago felt smited by Othello's selection of another military partner would've added a layer beyond this tried and repeated notion of meglomania. It almost gives Iago a touch of pathos.
@@Tanner-James As someone who is going to drama school and currently studying Iago as an essential part of my work, I want to in particular (and 4 years later), double down on the necessity of motives and behaviours for actors. Though I'm far too young and inexperienced to give much detail, I can certainly say that "Objectives"- or motives - is the first brick you lay when building a performance. Every class we take, whether performing a monologue or acting in a scene, the first question that is asked is "what is this character's objective? What do they NEED". Shakespeare was brilliant in that he did not just write simple wants or objectives, but needs. His characters love or hate so much they descend into poetry whenever they talk about it. And that's what I think Ewan is getting at here - that even Iago, one of the earliest examples of a character with sociopathic traits, has a desperate need. The need for that position in society and the need for the reciprocated homosexual, "spartan-esque" love for Othello. That is what Ewan needed to access to bring Iago to life, because as you said - you cannot play concepts as an actor, but you can absolutely play a motive.
wouldn't that actually make him an even more effective Iago? Dubbed 'Honest Iago', and a true friend to all. He's effective because he's such a nice and charming person.
@The MacSo I absolutely love Iago, because when I first read the play, I got sucked into believing Iago was allowing us to see who he really was only to find out he was playing me/the audience as well. Not once did he give an actual real reason why he hated Othello so much, and when it came time for him to explain everything to the other characters and to us, the mad lad cuts off his own tongue. What an ultimate shitlord
And where's the interview with Ejiofor? He's simply the best actor of his generation, on the shores of ANY pond. Wish we could have seen a clip of this incredible production.
@happydudenator I actually read that Ken Branagh was on the list of candidates to play Kenobi in Phantom Menace... Ironically, I was editing clips of "Hamlet" for my video and as I was fiddling with the "there's a special providence" speech, I thought, "Gosh, he looks like Obi-Wan!"
They didn't consider it because, well, they didn't want to, since it was so prevalent in their times and they didn't want to be confronted with it. But it's really staring you in the face, you can't overlook it.
I didn't know who he was when I watched the movie and him playing Iago but when I saw it I was like wow "the actor for Iago is really talented" now I know why lol Ewan Mcgregor
ambertheghostdog Iago says in the next line that he doesn’t know if it’s true but “for mere suspicion in that kind, will do as if for surety”. As in- he doesn’t know for certain, but just a rumour going around is enough to drive him mad. It seems to me Iago was crazily jealous. Later in the play in one line he seems to suggest he thinks Cassio screwed his wife too.
In case this will any more interesting: 2 Years after Revenge of the Sith Ewan McGregor (Finished for the Time his Breakthrough Role), played opposite on this a 10 Years Younger Actor who would soon have his Breakthrough role given to him 2 Years Later...And Ewan and Him are Best Friends!!! Weird how that Man became Like Obi-Wan A Scene Stealer in a Comic Book Movie as Loki in the MCU... Ewan McGregor was Best Friends With Tom Hiddleston...Obi-Wan and Loki will have shows on Disney+ Soon, Strange!!!
No it can be very well rationalized, Iago even does so during the play. What's making him behave in such a way is that Iago is developing into a kind of psychopath; a malevolent, sadistic, manipulative, narcissistic-sociopath. His sense of self-importance is overblown to God like proportions (made worse by his power manipulating others). Definitely a pathological liar, he even lies to himself to justify his intentions. Even his 'racism' is a lie. It is so he can further demonize Othello in his own mind to disassociate himself from the evil he is, in the end, doing purely because he is enjoying the power he has over everyone and indulging in sadism willingly and with no remorse or empathy. He gives no explanation and this might just be a final act of spite to everyone before he dies. A final touch of pain to go around. We still ask 'why?!', but the truth is that there is and has never been a 'why?' to what he does. He does it, that's all that needs to be known.
I think Iago hates himself, but like every malignant narcissist, he projects this hate onto literally everyone else. "I hate them all," This specific personality disorder always needs a person or group to demonise. Even if Iago got away with destroying Othello and killing Rodrigo, he would move on to destroying some new mark. This is simply the nature of the beast and is what cluster B's do.
Badkarma333, how I wish I could thank you for your insightful comment!! Iago's a sociopath. One could well say he acts merely out of boredom. Heck, it's as good an explanation as any.
I always thought Iago is held up as the epitome of motiveless malice in literature. But it seems there's more to it than that. Still, there are few characters so purely venal.
i agree, but i dont think he could ever match branaghs acting abilities. also just from watching this interview it seems like he doesnt study shakespeare the way branagh does.
because the cartoon parrot is an annoying twat that was wrongfully named after one of the best villains in shakespeare literature.....like villainy of the orochimaru from naruto variety
while I didn't get to see this performed, i have listened to the audio version, and McGregor is excellent as Iago, while Ejiofor is a bit bland, though partly due to the role. Branagh is lame; nowhere near as effective as conveying the dark reasoning of Iago.
I heard he was bland as Iago. That's a shame because everyone knows what he's capable of in performance. There are so many different interpretations for the role one could use.
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“How am I then a villain?” - Iago In Othello, Iago is a classic example of the mentality that is now embodied by postmodernism often present in modern feminism, fascism, and cultural Marxism. Generally speaking, Iago recognizes that he cannot beat Othello by traditional means as Othello is better in pretty much every way that counts. However, instead of simply focusing on improving himself his jealousy leads him to use words as weapons to deceive/gaslight his opponent in order to ruin his life. The tragedy of miscommunication is playing out now in the real world as people purposely support censorship of opinions "for the greater good" when in reality such censorship just increases potential for miscommunication and tragedy. Postmodernists don't care about results and improvement, but would rather warp perceptions of reality to destroy an opponent simply because it feels good to bring someone down. The whole ideology is based on criticizing the post-WWII West without giving any credit where it is due despite the West's overwhelming progress and success when compared to the majority of the rest of the world. This denial of reality manifests itself in the Twitter mobs who smear people in order to ruin careers and in fascist groups like Antifa that accuse everyone else of being fascist while hiding behind the very deceptive name of "anti-fascists." The feminists hide behind "equality" even though they continuously dismiss male perspectives as invalid in the same way that the Black Lives Matter movement dismisses white perspectives even though they are supposedly out to fight racism. These people don't actually care about the topics they bring up. As Malcom X warned, the liberal racist will pretend to be the friend to minorities in order to manipulate them for political gain and for the selfish reason of fulfilling a savior complex because it feels good to feel like a "hero." This illusion of caring about minorities falls apart when you see how they silence minorities who are conservative. Hating people who have success is a completely different emotion than wanting to help the less fortunate. There is nothing stopping feminists from having discussions about the restrictions on women present in Islam, and there is nothing stopping people from focusing on lowering black on black crime in inner city communities, but they don't do that because it's just easier and more fun to claim moral high-ground and focus on sabotaging another's success. For a postmodernist with the same mentality of Iago it's all about the joy of destruction at any cost because watching America and the West succeed is a painful reminder that the ideology they supported was wrong. They can't go on living with the realization that they are hateful and jealous so now the Iagos of the world have a new strategy. Instead of just pushing for economic redistribution of wealth, they also push for taking away social freedoms under the guise of "fairness" hence the term "cultural Marxists." How many people need to be fired/smeared and how many comedians and speakers need to be kicked off of college campuses before people start to recognize the Iagos manipulating everything behind the scenes? Will we be tricked into giving up important freedoms like the freedom of speech? Will Iago trick us into destroying our own Desdemona?
Well, my opinion lies in the same vein of my professor; iago is an idiot, he has no idea where his power lies and he has no idea wher his next move lies; no greater plan. He alos has no idea why he hurts Othello, he himself is oblivious. Perhaps he's jealous, perhaps he's in love. he doesn't know, nor do we.
Alas, McGregor is pretty flat as Iago. He's good when he's chatting with Othello, but when he's not talking to him, he's not very good. Not plotting enough. Not manipulative enough. It's quite sad. The guy playing Othello is wonderful. Also, Iago's not gay. Bromance.
