Twelve leading actors, including Alan Rickman, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Eileen Atkins, Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart, discuss playing twelve key Shakespearean roles.

The performers interviewed represent a Who's Who of stage and screen actors (between them they have seventeen Oscar nominations), and range across all generations. They include Judi Dench talking about her acclaimed Juliet in Franco Zeffirelli's 1960 production; Ian McKellen whose Macbeth at the RSC in the 1970s is still considered iconic; Helen Mirren who has played Cleopatra three times; Kevin Spacey bringing an American perspective to playing Richard II; and Jude Law on his Hamlet, which was a hit in the West End and on Broadway in 2009. Also interviewed are Brian Cox, Ralph Fiennes, Rebecca Hall, Derek Jacobi, Adrian Lester, Tim Pigott-Smith, Patrick Stewart and Penelope Wilton. Each actor talks through their role, scene by scene, with refreshing candour and in forensic detail. The result is a mini masterclass in playing that role, aimed at other actors, students of Shakespeare, and audiences of the plays.