Patrick Stewart: 5 Awesome Performances And 5 That Sucked

4. John Of Gaunt - The Hollow Crown: Richard II (2012)

Though Ben Whishaw's performance in Hollow Crown is the most diverting, Stewart's should also not be under-estimated, especially since his character helps to set Richard's decline in motion.

In case you need reminding, Richard II covers the last two years of the monarch's reign at the end of the 14th century. Faced with a dispute between his cousin Henry Bolingbroke (Rory Kinnear) and noble Thomas Mowbray, Richard banishes the former for six years and the latter for life. After the death of Bolingbroke's father, John of Gaunt, Richard seizes all his lands and imposes heavy taxes to fund a war in Ireland. Bolingbroke, banished to France, assembles an army and invades England to claim back his money and take the crown. Richard complies and is imprisoned in Pomfret Castle, where he is eventually murdered.

John of Gaunt is a small but significant part for an actor, being the moral thorn in Richard's side who believes he was responsible for the actions that caused his son to be banished. While much of his career has seen him in refined, cool performances, here Stewart is grim and visceral, almost spitting out his every line with barely-contained rage. He delivers the play's most famous speech (the one about "this sceptr'd isle") with great heft, and even after his character has passed on his presence can be felt at the royal court. Stewart has done a lot of Shakespeare in his career, but this is one of the real highlights.