Marvelousness of ‘Macbeth’

Actor says it’s all about director Coen’s cinematic vision

Corey Hawkins found himself bewitched the moment he walked onto the set of “The Tragedy of Macbeth.”

The actor, who portrays Lord Macduff in the new film adaptation of William Shakespeare’s 1623 play, marveled at director Joel Coen’s vision for bringing the timeless work to the screen.

“It’s theatrical, but it’s cinema,” Hawkins (photo) told the Daily News. “He found a way to bring the stage to the film, but it’s still very cinematic in scope and his storytelling.”

“[It has] things that you cannot do on stage. Things that most films wouldn’t even dare to do,” he said. “Joel pushed it. Everything is shot inside of a sound stage. There’s nothing outside, really. Even all of those outside scenes, even the corridor . ... It’s all indoors. To pull that off, it takes an incredible mind.”

The black-and-white movie, now in theaters and streaming on Apple TV+, also stars Denzel Washington and Frances McDormand in the story about a Scottish lord’s ruthless pursuit of power after receiving a prophecy from three witches.

Hawkins, who previously played the

Macbeth character as a student at New York’s Juilliard School, said his preparation for the movie included “one of the best rehearsal periods I’ve ever been a part of on stage or film.”

He quickly got to work with Washington, McDormand and Coen after attending a costume fitting during his first day on the set.

“Next thing I know, I say hello and exchange pleasantries and all of that stuff, and then we’re off and running,” Hawkins said. “Denzel picks up the script and we just start working. That was just exciting. We just jumped in.”

The film is the latest Shakespearean role for Hawkins, who made his Broadway debut in 2013 with a production of “Romeo and Juliet.”

Hawkins, 33, enjoyed playing a character in “The Tragedy of Macbeth” that he said “represents everything that is good” and “everything that is virtuous.”

“It’s so timely because we’re talking about the same things that Shakespeare was talking about hundreds of years ago, except it’s just politicians instead of kings and queens or thanes,” Hawkins said of the movie.

“People trying to work their ways up the ladder. Sacrifice, and love, and fate and choice.”