In a wide-ranging and characteristically candid interview, acclaimed comedian and actor Eddie Izzard has reflected on her career trajectory, revealing an intriguing, if coincidental, parallel with the end of Margaret Thatcher's premiership. Izzard, currently touring her 'Remix' show and performing a one-woman Hamlet in Australia, shared insights on everything from Shakespearean acting to extreme endurance running.
From Street Performer to Shakespearean Prince
Discussing her acclaimed performance as the Danish prince, Izzard explained she felt unexpectedly at home with the iconic role from the start. "The first thing I found when I was rehearsing Hamlet was that I felt very at home," she said. Her years as a street performer directly inform her approach, rejecting the modern 'fourth wall' convention for a more Elizabethan, audience-engaged style. "I will talk to the audience and bring them in. They are part of my brain, they are part of Hamlet's brain," she stated, describing her nightly, nuanced delivery of "to be or not to be."
Marathons, Mishaps and Movie Stars
Izzard's legendary physical endurance was another key topic. She revealed the hardest marathon was a gruelling miscalculation in Northern Ireland, where she thought she had finished only to face another six miles. Even more staggering was the double marathon she completed in South Africa. "I ended up doing 90km in just under 12 hours. That was a tough day," she recalled, part of a challenge where she ran 27 marathons in 27 days for Sport Relief.
Off-stage adventures include a memorable escape from a Hollywood red carpet with Brad Pitt. At the Ocean's 13 premiere, a reluctant Pitt "plopped himself next to me" for a chat and later dragged Izzard into the obligatory group photo. On-stage disasters have led to impromptu ghost story sessions, once when a theatre flooded and the lights failed.
Remixing Classics and Unpopular Opinions
Her 'Remix' tour sees Izzard revisiting beloved routines like the legendary Death Star Canteen sketch, now with new twists involving author Daphne du Maurier. She also championed an unpopular pop culture opinion: her fondness for George Lazenby's sole outing as James Bond in On Her Majesty's Secret Service, the first Bond film she ever saw.
When asked about having a nemesis, Izzard demurred but offered a pointed reflection on the former Prime Minister. "I will say I wasn't very into Margaret Thatcher's politics and when her career stopped, mine started really taking off," she observed. "I don't think it was linked, but it did seem to go in the same way. Her politics were not mine; she wasn't into people."
Other revelations included her secret skill at sword-fighting, honed in Covent Garden, the mushroom-based 'snails' she ate opposite Mads Mikkelsen in Hannibal, and the survival of iconic stage outfits, including a Jean Paul Gaultier piece she had to sew a button onto mid-performance.
Eddie Izzard's Hamlet runs at the Sydney Opera House from 9-21 June, then at Arts Centre Melbourne from 30 June to 12 July. Her Remix tour tours Australia from 6-16 May.
