No, not any particular actor, but the character himself. There are hints at it, but they are just as hotly disputed by some Shakespearean scholars as they are hotly supported by yet others (this about a character by an author that people still hotly dispute whether he was, in fact, the author).
Regardless, 99.99% of all Hamlets are thin, as if consumed from within by doubts and tapeworms alike. The Byronesque nature of the protagonist has become a tradition over the centuries.
Fun article, and a glimpse at the protean nature of staging and casting Shakespeare.
Is Hamlet Fat? A Slate Investigation.
Picture for a moment Hamlet, the melancholy prince of Denmark. Chances are, you’re imagining a dashing gentleman who looks like one of the many famous actors who’ve played him. Kenneth Branagh, say, or Laurence Olivier, or Jude Law or David Tennant. You might even picture Benedict Cumberbatch, who is drawing…
