Interview: Coral Peña of HAMLET at Mark Taper Forum

When I spoke with Coral Peña, who will play Ophelia in Robert O’Hara’s upcoming production of Hamlet at Center Theatre Group, it immediately became clear the production is conjuring up something new in the state of Denmark. “Robert is in conversation with William Shakespeare, injecting his own style into the show,” Peña surmises. “If you’re coming to see a Robert O’Hara show, you’re going to get that. If you’re coming to see a traditional Hamlet, you’re going to get that too. It’s giving people who know and love Hamlet something they’ll love.” Careful not to give too much away, she intones, “There’s a reason this production is being done in LA. Robert has been talking a lot about his film influences and it’s been a puzzle we’ve all had to solve; absorbing film noir into the play.” Though Peña will be recognized by local audiences primarily for her film work and recent CTG performance in Our Dear Dead Drug Lord, she is no stranger to iambic pentameter. In fact, she credits Shakespearean roles with most of her training and early professional credits. “All through college I thought of myself as a Shakespearean actor, and I have a lot of confidence in this work. The rule of Shakespeare is that people mean what they say, they think and feel at the same time and there is no hidden meaning. It’s a big switch to contemporary works or even the work of Molière or Chekhov. It’s working with different muscles, but I love to work with both.” Though familiar with Shakespearean roles, the chance to play Ophelia was still a surprise for Peña. “I usually don’t play roles like this— I play clowns.” She cites roles like Celia in As You Like It and the Nurse in Romeo and Juliet as the sorts of roles she had come to expect. Someday, she would love to dive back into comedic roles, approaching Katherine in The Taming of the Shrew or the “joy and deep pain” of Mercutio in Romeo and Juliet. But, in tackling Ophelia, Peña leaned into the character’s inherent independence and lively spirit. “Hamlet usually has a fiery spirit and Ophelia is the passive observer Hamlet’s fire comes down on, but she is someone who can take care of herself.” In their conversations about film influences, O’Hara and Peña looked past portrayals by Kate Winslet and Helena Bonham Carter (both of whom, Peña acknowledges, aptly “encounters” their respective Hamlet) and instead pulled from Jane Fonda’s performance in the 1971 Neo-noir Klute. By Peña’s estimation, Fonda’s portrayal of Bree Daniels epitomizes a modern heroine with the “spirit of Ophelia” but who “definitely doesn’t need saving”.

Interview: Coral Peña of HAMLET at Mark Taper Forum

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