Denzel Washington says he 'didn’t pay much attention' to superstitions surrounding Macbeth

Denzel Washington, who plays the titular role in The Tragedy of Macbeth, recently spoke about the film and playing the lead in the Joel Coen directorial. 

Based on William Shakespeare's 400-year-old play, Washington is joined by Frances McDormand as Lady Macbeth. The story is about how the Scottish general, encouraged by his wife, commits murder to usurp the throne.

"It just so happens as fate would have it, I’ve never seen it. I wasn’t avoiding it. I just hadn’t seen it," told Reuters. 

"I was fortunate in that Joel and Fran and myself got together close to a year out from shooting and we started reading scenes together. We got to get into the material and ask questions and bounce off of each other and act a little bit and see how we all work together," he explained.

The cast of the film which had its world premiere at the New York Film Festival last year also includes Kathryn Hunter, Moses Ingram, Brendan Gleeson, Stephen Root among others.

Macbeth has been adapated for screen innumberable times with actors such as James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, and Ian McKellen playing the role. 

Speaking about whether he felt any pressure to take on this project, Washington said, "I didn’t feel that pressure. It was going to be a good play, whether I messed it up or not. It’ll continue to be and it’s open to interpretation. That’s the great thing about Shakespeare. It’s been done every which way you can. So this was Joel’s idea."

He also said that he “didn’t pay much attention to” the supersitions around the play.

The Tragedy of Macbeth is now streaming on Apple TV+.