Comic wants to tackle Shakespeare

Eddie Izzard says he wants to play Shakespeare.

The comic, who is about to make his Broadway debut, wants to play Richard III.

But he first wants to tackle Iago, from Othello, because he empathises with his character as a "schemer".

"I have to scheme," he said, "Christ, if you're going to come out and say you're a transvestite and not lose your career, you've got to scheme like crazy.

"I can play him. I can fuck it up, but I might come up with something that's, like, wow. But I will do the ballsy choice."

In the Daily Telegraph interview, Izzard also confessed that he once suffered a lack of self-esteem.

Talking about his role as Charlie Chaplain in The Cat's Meow, in which he spends two days trying to get Kirsten Dunst's Marion Davies into bed, he said: "I understand Chaplin's lack of self-esteem because I had that.

"He's thinking, 'I've got to perform my way into bed'. It's kind of based on my own experience."

Izzard makes his Broadway debut in A Day In The Death Of Joe Egg next year.

Meanwhile, his live stand-up video Circle is released today. Click to order the DVD or video at a discount from Amazon.co.uk.

Published: 18 Nov 2002