Images and transcript from The Today Show
Original broadcast: May 18, 2004

with Patrick Stewart and Glenn Close Stars of "The Lion in Winter"

Katie Couric: "The Lion in Winter" is a film classic, telling the story of King Henry II, and his equally famous wife Eleanor of Aquitaine, as they struggle to find a successor to the thrown. Katharine Hepburn earned an Oscar in the original movie, back in 1968. Well, now the screenplay has been reinterpreted in a new film, starring Patrick Stewart as King Henry, and Glenn Close as Eleanor of Aquitaine. Katie: Patrick and Glenn, nice to see you. Good morning. Glenn: Nice to see you. Patrick: Good morning. Katie: So, I know that... I'm going to start with you, Patrick, because you're co-executive producer of this movie, and not only starring in it, but, obviously, had a big hand in, sort of, organizing the whole thing. Why did you want to tackle this project? Patrick: This project was brought to me by my producing partner, Wendy Neuss-Stewart, who had directed the stage play at Penn. She had never forgotten what a brilliant script it was, and she said, one morning, "This should be your next project." I read it, and it's one of the most dazzling screenplays in the history of cinema. That was the primary reason for redoing it. Katie: And I know that not a word has changed, I understand, in the original with Katharine Hepburn and Peter O'Toole. And you (Glenn), of course, are Eleanor of Aquitaine, a fascinating historical figure. Don't you think? Glenn: Oh, incredible. Katie: So complex, not to mention their relationship. But, tell us about her, Glenn. Glenn: Both of them, I mean, they were like the power couple of the 12th century. You know. Katie: (Laughs) Yeah. Glenn: There was nobody like them. Katie: Right. Glenn: They were an amazing match. Katie: But, such an interesting relationship. Glenn: She had been married to King Louis of France, and had gone, actually, on the first Crusade with him; and they only had daughters. And, she fell in love with Henry when he was 19 years old, and got an annulment, and went on to father -- they had, actually, six children together. Umm, Richard the Lionheart, and John. Richard is iconic, you know, and all the myths and everything. And John was probably the worse king in English history. Uh, she... Katie: And one went on to be involved with Robin Hood, right? I mean... Glenn: That was John. Patrick: That was John. Katie: That's what... Ellie, my seventh grader, was explaining all this to me as we watched, last night! Glenn: Eleanor was kind of an aberration in her time, like Elizabeth I; she was as important, I think, to her era as Elizabeth I was -- a woman of huge energy and intellect. Katie: I was going to say, she was one tough broad, too. I mean, she really was... Glenn: And beautiful and sexy. Katie: ... ahead of her time. Meanwhile, you (Patrick) kept cheating on her! And you had all these mistresses. Glenn: Well, not all the time. Just Rosamund. Patrick: Yes. There was... Katie: She wasn't the only one, was she? Glenn: Well, she was the turning point. Patrick: Yeah, Rosamund was the great love affair, and he was having his affair with Rosamund when she (Eleanor) was pregnant with... Richard? Glenn: With John. Patrick: With John. And, umm, bad timing. Glenn: (Laughs) Patrick: And it was one of the... it's one of the elements that began to tear them apart. And once they were tearing apart, it became a very vio... they fought battles against one another. Katie: I know! Glenn: But, I mean, it's very, it's very human. And, it's all... "The Lion in Winter" is historically correct in that their marriage -- the landscape of their marriage -- changed with his falling in love with Rosamund. Katie: How... Were you... Was it daunting at all, for either of you? Obviously, this is the remake of a classic, and whenever you engage in that kind of enterprise it can be slightly intimidating. Were you afraid to take on a role that was so brilliantly portrayed by Peter O'Toole? Patrick: I was intimidated, for this reason: When I was a student -- an acting student, in a provincial town in England -- the young leading actor of the company was a man called Peter O'Toole; and I saw him, every week, dazzling all of us with his talent. And, he... No other actor had as big an impact on me as Peter O'Toole. So, last thing I was going to do was sit down and watch him playing my role in a movie before we made it. Katie: (Laughs) Yeah. Patrick: Umm, it's, uh... There are going to be three productions of Hamlet in London, this year; nobody is questioning why you would want to redo Hamlet... Katie: Right. Patrick: ... because it's a brilliant play. This is a brilliant screenplay and requires to be redone. I'm surprised it had not been redone before, because the script is so outstanding. Katie: What about Katharine Hepburn? Stepping into her slippers? Glenn: Well, Katharine Hepburn -- iconic, you know. Yes, it's a... You... I'm very aware of it. And, umm, yet, again, I do think, as Patrick, that it's hard to find, you know, characters of this stature and this size that lets you really flex your creative muscle. Katie: I know you both also feel that, and you sort of alluded it -- alluded to this, when you called them sort of the ultimate power couple of their time -- but, that this story and the script has a very modern feel to it... Glenn: Yeah. Katie: ... despite the fact that obviously it's taking place many, many, many years ago. Why is that, do you think? Patrick: It has an authentic period feeling to it. With this production, by Andrei Konchalovsky, I think the sense of period is even grittier than it might have been in the original one. But, it's modern without being being contemporary. And it's very, very accessible; it's not quite like listening to Shakespeare. Uh, and there are surprising modern... Like, we talk about John being the best man at a wedding, at one point... Katie: Right. Patrick: ... which is a charming joke because he's such a wreck. And, it's... Although it's historical costume drama, it is very, very available. It... Glenn: Well, the language he uses is very modern. He'll put in words that are startling, sometimes, when you come across them. But, I think, again, it makes it very... And it is so witty, it's deeply witty, up to the last moment of the movie. Katie: I had a great time, as I mentioned, watching it with my seventh grader who told me which son was supposed to be hot, and which son was not -- so, this is in the mind of a seventh grader! But, I really enjoyed it. Patrick Stewart and Glenn Close -- thanks for coming in, nice to see you both. Glenn: You're welcome. Thank you. Katie: And, by the way, "The Lion in Winter" airs this Sunday on Showtime. (End of interview.)

VRRRM Transcript and Screen captures by TRexx@BonBon.Net

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"The Lion in Winter" starring Patrick Stewart

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