who was later herself murdered by her son Nero, are mirrored in the play, as Hamlet himself appears to note in Act III, Scene 2: "Soft! now to my mother. / O heart, lose not thy nature; let not ever / The soul of Nero enter this firm bosom ...." Although the character is referred to as "Claudius, King of Denmark" in one stage direction, the name "Claudius" is never spoken by any character in the play. Portrayals Eduard von Winterstein portrayed Claudius in the 1921 German silent film adaptation of Hamlet. Basil Sydney portrayed Claudius in Laurence Olivier's film adaptation of Hamlet. Mikhail Nazvanov portrayed Claudius in the Soviet 1964 film adaptation of Hamlet. Anthony Hopkins played Claudius as a young, virile king in Tony Richardson's 1969 film of Hamlet, starring Nicol Williamson in the title role. Alan Bates portrays Claudius as a drunken, buffoonish, craven schemer in Franco Zeffirelli's film adaptation of Hamlet. In Kenneth Branagh's 1996 film version of Hamlet, Claudius is played by Derek Jacobi. Jacobi had not only been Branagh's mentor as an actor, but had previously played Hamlet himself with Patrick Stewart playing Claudius in a BBC production. In Michael Almereyda's 2000 film version of Hamlet, Claudius is played by Kyle MacLachlan. Patrick Stewart once again portrayed Claudius with the Royal Shakespeare Company in 2008, in a production directed by Gregory Doran. Clive Owen portrayed Claudius in Claire McCarthy's 2018 film Ophelia. Characters modeled on Claudius Claudius also inspired the character Miraz in C. S. Lewis' novel Prince Caspian, part of The Chronicles of Narnia series. Ron Perlman portrays Clay Morrow in the television series Sons of Anarchy, which relies heavily on the general plot structure of Hamlet; his character is based on Claudius. Ron Perlman has said, "I'm sure they're going to stick to the structure of Hamlet all the way to the end" of the series. In Disney's The Lion King, the villain, Scar (voiced by Jeremy Irons in 1994 and Chiwetel Ejiofor in 2019), is modelled after Claudius; both characters murder their brothers and dissemble to their nephews to ascend to the throne. References External links Characters in Hamlet Fictional Danish people Fictional kings Fictional murderers Male Shakespearean characters Fictional fratricides Fictional regicides Male literary villains Shakespeare villains es:Hamlet#Personajes