NOT a Tilda Swinton fan. She's just plain creepy and too androgynous for my taste. Lady M is definitely not androgynous. She's all woman. Tilda is missing that one great essential that is generally attributed to Lady M: a nice rack. No question about it. Tilda is about as sensuous as a cockroach on jello. Lena would be an acceptable choice. Knightley is far too young besides being simply a terrible actress/ I can't see her getting her deformed mouth around Shakespearean dialogue. Lady M needs to be close to her husband's age. But, my fav is still Samantha Bond. She's an experienced Shakespearean actress, already knows the lines and has proven she has great chemistry with Sean. I wouldn't mind Catherine Tate or Juliette Aubrey either. And don't forget Joanna Lumley.
Yeah, Swinton is creepy - but she's a very good actress and comfortable with dramatic roles (which would be my concern with Tate and Lumley). Her androgyny might actually play well for the character, as L MacB is classically seen as conflicted between her femininity and her ambition, to the point of wishing that her menstrual blood would stop flowing as she sees it as a weakness (Act 1, scene 5, 40-54).
I agree that Samantha Bond would be super for this, if only because of the history of the pair. I have a sneaking suspicion that the director is going to downplay the role, though, in favor of more swords and testosterone. That would be a shame, because L McB is the real villain of the piece, IMO.
