Many film fans associate Emma Thompson with Jane Austen — the image of her traipsing through the English countryside as Elinor in Sense and Sensibility, or taking the stage at the 1995 Oscars to accept the Best Adapted Screenplay award for that same movie.
Read MoreDotted around the set of Amazon's new production of King Lear is the unlikely sight of several bowls of Altoids.
Next to one is a note: "Lose a voice, lose the show."
Watching the filming at Hatfield House near London, you soon see what the mints are for: Sir Anthony Hopkins, playing Lear, is absolutely belting it out. It's the moment in Act Two of Shakespeare's bleakest tragedy when Lear's daughters Goneril (Emma Thompson) and Regan (Emily Watson) finally reveal their treachery.
Read MoreSAMPHIRE HOE, England — High above the sea, on the white cliffs of Dover, soldiers hoisted equipment and secured tents in what looked like a military encampment. A man appeared at the edge of a tent, his white hair close-cropped, his grizzled face shadowed by a ragged beard. “Shall we get on with it?” Anthony Hopkins said.
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