In May 2004, a spidery-limbed, hollow-cheeked unknown walked onto the stage at the Old Vic and sent electric shocks of excitement through the auditorium. Playing Hamlet, aged 23, Ben Whishaw was one of the youngest Danish princes ever to commandeer the stage at this theatre, yet some critics felt they had witnessed a performance which could rank alongside those of Richard Burton, Laurence Olivier, John Gielgud and Peter O’Toole. One reviewer declared that ‘Whishaw, with his light, tremulous voice, painfully thin body, and the kind of cheekbones that will have adolescent girls swooning in...
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