‘We went bankrupt and had to set up the explosives ourselves’: Ian McKellen and Richard Loncraine on making Richard III

Soliloquy at a urinal … Ian McKellen in Richard III. Photograph: United Artists/Allstar

Ian McKellen, actor, co-writer, executive producer

When we were doing Richard III at the National Theatre in 1990, the director Richard Eyre, the designer Bob Crowley and I felt there should be modern references in the design. Although it is a history play, if you look at the dates, there were people at the original production whose grandparents would have lived in Richard III’s time. Richard suggested looking back to the 1930s and fascism, which seemed like a modern equivalent. Just before the play opened in the US, I said: “Shouldn’t we film this?” He said: “Yes, you’d better write a screenplay.”