Peter Sarsgaard on Starring in Classic Stage Company's HAMLET

Actor Peter Sarsgaard recently spoke with The Guardian about his upcoming performance as Hamlet with Classic Stage Company. Sarsgaard admited he had never seen Hamlet until recently, and had had no desire to play the part, even when it was offered to him in the past. "I almost actively didn't want to play it," he said.

He had a change of heart when his mentor, acting teacher Penelope Allen, mentioned wanting to play Gertrude. Sarsgaard called Brian Kulick, artistic director of CSC, and proposed the show, and Kulick agreed so quickly "It was uncool," he said.

Sarsgaard likes his performance to be constantly changing and adapting to anything that may happen at any given performance. "It's fascinating to see him go through draft after draft after draft of a line, a soliloquy, a scene," said Kulick. "Something is always very alive, something is always newly discovered."

Sarsgaard says he feels freer to change up his performance off-Broadway, and the stage manager has come to accept his lack of total consistency. Although the show is now in previews, Scarsgaard says he's still trying to find a way to make "to be or not to be" fresh. "I'm trying to play Stairway to Heaven in a way somebody actually listens to the song," he said.

"I do consider this entire show all a huge rehearsal," he said. "This 'Oh my god, you're playing Hamlet!' - it doesn't feel like that to me because I know I'm not going to stick the landing," he said happily. "It feels very personal, but there are so many different ways to go."

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