my first introduction to mackbeth. it's the same thing that's been with me every night and sitting on my table now, it's been with me 40 years. >> charlie: did you need to do it at a time in your life. >> i had an acting mentor and we often talked about this part and he said, you really have to wait till you're the right age. in my early 30s and 40s, he said, you're still too young. i didn't understand it, but i listened because i revered him. somehow it came together through virtue of the manchester festival and meeting rob ashford, the brilliant co-director and finding the right elements like alex kingston to be lady mackbeth. things started to fall together, so it became the right time to do it. >> charlie: you'd had a ten-year absence from shakespeare. >> yes, i had, and like many things in my career, although others may view it differently, these sort of accidents happen. you find yourself on wonderful diversion ritracts. it's often -- my wife jokes about it. she says people say to me, oh, does he read shakespeare