David Tennant to Tom Holland: Celebrities on stage in 'Romeo and Juliet'

As Tom Holland and Francesca Amewudah-Rivers play Shakespeare's tragic lovers in the West End, we take a look at other famous pairings from the past century.

“But, soft, what light through yonder window breaks? / It is the east, and Juliet is the sun”. Everyone has an opinion on Romeo and Juliet and what their story represents. Many of us will have studied it at school and have been able to relate to the way in which Shakespeare evokes the intensity of first love.

The children of two prominent families of Verona who have been at war for years, Romeo and Juliet fall in love at first sight and marry in secret. Tragically, nothing goes according to plan and, through a series of miscommunications, both kill themselves rather than attempt to live without each other.

Romeo and Juliet provides two outstanding roles for young actors, which are inevitably shaped by the director’s vision and the context in which the production is being staged. On screen, the lovers have been played by Leslie Howard and Norma Shearer, Leonard Whiting and Olivia Hussey, Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes, and more.

Here are some of the most notable pairings in influential productions on Broadway and in the West End, across theatre and dance. At present, the title roles are being played by Tom Holland and Francesca Amewudah-Rivers at the Duke of York’s Theatre in a haunting production by auteur Jamie Lloyd.

Tom Holland and Francesca Amewudah-Rivers (2024)

Jamie Lloyd’s production, featuring the inventive video work that’s become his trademark, consciously plays homage to Spider-Man actor Tom Holland’s movie star status. In a review for London Theatre, our critic admired Holland’s “assured performance, which graduates from laddish confidence to rippling rage.” Amewudah-Rivers is equally impressive as a “confident Juliet, who appears more woman than girl” and “breathes new life into Shakespeare’s words, reframing the power dynamics at play in her relationship with Romeo.”

Kit Connor and Rachel Zegler (2024)

Broadway will be staging its own starry take later this year at Circle in the Square Theatre. Both of the leads will make their Broadway debuts, with British actor Kit Connor best known for his role as secondary school student Nick Nelson in Netfix hit Heartstopper. Rachel Zegler, soon to be seen in the title role in Disney’s Snow White remake, previously played a version of Juliet when she was Maria in Steven Spielberg’s version of West Side Story. Will playing the OG romantic heroine cause déjà vu? Probably not, as the teaser, set to Bleachers’ “Tiny Moves”, suggests a suburban setting.

Toheeb Jimoh and Isis Hainsworth (2023)

Following her successes with Cabaret and Summer and Smoke, Rebecca Frecknall turned to the Bard’s romantic tragedy at Islington’s Almeida Theatre in a breathless, pacy production. London Theatre’s review observed that Ted Lasso actor Toheeb Jimoh’s Romeo had “a cheeky charm, his quick-witted flirtation accompanied by a disarming grin, and a prevailing gentleness,” while Isis Hainsworth was “thoroughly convincing as a fumbling, inexperienced girl” whose rendering of Juliet’s suicide induced “the most I’ve ever recoiled from that horrendous act.”

David Tennant and Alexandra Gilbreath (2000)

The tenth Doctor Who and acclaimed Shakespearean actor David Tennant (who will reprise his Macbeth in the West End in the autumn) played Romeo in a production for the RSC directed by Michael Boyd. In the same season, he played the comic roles of Jack Absolute in The Rivals and Antipholus of Syracuse in The Comedy of Errors. Boyd encouraged Tennant to think of the unseen and untouchable Rosaline as a novice nun. His Juliet was Alexandra Gilbreath, a RSC stalwart who most recently played Queen Victoria in The Empress.

Sean Bean and Niamh Cusack (1986)

Satirising ultra-materialistic 1980s “yuppie” culture, Michael Bogdanov’s RSC production, with its chilly chrome and marble set design, offered no hope of the warring families reconciling after their children’s suicides. Romeo and Juliet’s love was seen as the antithesis of their parents’ selfishness. The production marked an early role for Sean Bean, who went on to major screen success in Sharpe, The Lord of the Rings, and, currently, Shardlake. Niamh Cusack, a member of the Irish Cusack acting dynasty, was most recently seen in That Face at the Orange Tree Theatre.

Ian McKellen and Francesca Annis (1976)

Trevor Nunn’s production for the RSC transformed the Royal Shakespeare Theatre into an Elizabethan-style playhouse with minimal props. In the 1970s, Ian McKellen was an up-and-coming classical actor, while Francesca Annis was at the height of her fame playing tragic heroines in costume dramas, including Madame Bovary, A Pin to See the Peepshow, and Lillie, and she played Lady Macbeth in Roman Polanski’s controversial film adaptation of Macbeth.

Rudolf Nureyev and Margot Fonteyn (1965)

There have been many ballet versions of the story but Kenneth Macmillan’s version remains a bona fide classic. Although Macmillan created the ballet for Lynn Seymour and Christopher Gable, the opening night was danced by Margot Fonteyn and Rudolf Nureyev due to their celebrity status. Their performance was applauded by the audience for 40 minutes. Fonteyn, who was 46 at the time, said that one had to be at least 40 to do justice to Juliet.

John Stride and Judi Dench (1960)

Eight years before he directed the film with Olivia Hussey and Leonard Whiting, Franco Zeffirelli directed Judi Dench and John Stride as the star-crossed lovers at the Old Vic. Dench recalls that Zeffirelli “wanted teenage angst, raw emotion. He kept asking us to be more visceral.” John Stride, her Romeo, was a stalwart of Laurence Olivier’s company at the Old Vic.

Laurence Olivier/John Gielgud and Peggy Ashcroft (1935)

In a casting gimmick, Laurence Olivier and John Gielgud (who also directed) alternated in the roles of Romeo and Mercutio, with Peggy Ashcroft as Juliet. Olivier reprised his Romeo in 1940 opposite his new wife Vivien Leigh – their relationship began when both were married to other spouses and garnered huge amounts of press attention.