In an interview in 2007, specially recorded to accompany the release of a DVD compliation of some of her best work at the BBC, Helen Mirren, who played Beatrice-Joanna in a 1974 BBC production of ‘The Changeling’, had this to say about the role and the genre;
“I adore Jacobean tragedy. I have a great affinity for it. I’ve done three altogether; The Duchess of Malfi which I did later, The Changeling and The Revenger’s Tragedy which was my first big role in the theatre. And I still love it and I’d jump at the chance to do another.
I think it appeals to my romantic nature; to my gothic nature. You know, I think if I was a young girl nowI’d be a goth because I love that sort of dark, but passionate, but emotional, romantic…it just, it appeals to me.
I think another reason I love Jacobean drama is the women’s roles are fabulous. They’re great; they’re sexy, they’re extreme, they’re incredibly evil and they’re full of dichotomies and complexity and Beatrice-Joanna is an absolute case in point.
I’d love to do a modern day version of The Changeling because I think it’s a fascinating story of someone who is so repulsed, utterly repulsed by someone but actually finishes up completely obsessed by them. I mean he’s ugly; he’s physically ugly. He’s also lower class, he’s the servant – so she can’t see him even as a human being but he sees himself very much as a human being and he is absolutely obsessed by her. There’s a wonderful story about class.”
(Helen Mirren Remembers, 2007, BBC DVD)
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