A staple on Australian stages and screens since she was 18, Jessica Tovey now stars as the leading lady in Bell Shakespeare’s Macbeth, coming to Canberra Theatre Centre on 14-22 April. CW caught up with Tovey to discuss Shakespeare, iconic roles, and returning to the stage.

1. This is your first production since the pandemic. How are you finding it?

As soon as we were back together, it just felt like coming home. It’s a bit different now I’ve got a little baby; there’s a bit more juggling to be done.

2. How does it feel to be taking on such an iconic role?

I don’t have a very long bucket list, but she was definitely on it.

She is such an interesting character. I think, historically, she’s kind of often been thought about by people as quite two-dimensional. She’s not a goody but she’s actually very complex and she’s also got the capacity for a lot of tenderness, love, humour and intelligence.

3. Have you always been a Shakespeare fan?

I’ve been wanting to be an actor since I was a very little girl and I think I was part of that generation of teenagers who grew up with Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo and Juliet. Whether you like it or not, that film introduced a whole generation to Shakespeare at a really young age.

I love it. It’s not for everyone, but I love the language, I love the emotion of it, the heightened nature of it, the kind of poetry of it.

4. Anything on your to-do list while you’re in Canberra?

We always go to the art galleries and the museums and Questacon. I took my daughter to an art gallery for the first time the other day. She loved it, so I got excited.

I have a couple of friends who promised us some beautiful nature walks, I think we’re going to be very busy.

5. What’s next for you?

Who knows? That’s the kind of life of being an actor – sometimes know what you’re doing for the next four years in advance and sometimes you don’t know what you’re doing next week.

I’ll come back to Sydney and, hopefully, there’ll be another beautiful acting gig coming my way. I’m also looking forward to being Mum a little bit.

See Jessica Tovey in Macbeth at Canberra Theatre Centre, 14-22 April;canberratheatrecentre.com.au

Some answers have been condensed for publication.

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