Daniella Hakimi as Lady Macbeth

Cast members perform a final bow to the audience as the show comes to a close. | Madison Walsh

The blinding stage lights ignite, and all else hushes as Daniella Hakimi, a theater major, takes to the stage. When she steps into the spotlight, she seems to step outside of herself and into the shoes of her character, totally immersing herself and the audience in the story. 

Hakimi plays the role of Lady Macbeth in Saddleback College’s upcoming performance “Macbeth.” 

Initially, Hakimi was drawn to the production because of the overall experience of the auditioning process and the significant reputation of the show. 

Even so, Hakimi did not enter auditions with any expectations of landing a leading role; not to say that she was not thrilled to receive the role, but more that she focused on the process rather than the outcome. 

“I focus on doing my best and learning from the experience. I believe that the outcome doesn’t determine your worth, and it’s simply part of the journey,” Hakimi says. 

This certainly explains her composure on stage, as all else seems to melt away, and storytelling comes naturally. 

In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, Lady Macbeth can be described as a merciless and unrelenting driving force, thrust into madness and guilt because of her own overwhelming and obsessive ambition. 

Because of these extreme traits, it might be easy to look down upon the character, but Hakimi does not see it that way. 

“I learned not to judge my characters,” the theatre major says. “I feel her pain as a woman who encounters a lot of social pressure and believes that her emotions are a weakness.”

Clearly, Hakimi approaches her portrayal of the character with empathy, which is certainly important when attempting to act and perform with sincerity and believability. 

She describes Lady Macbeth as ambitious and attributes her actions to a product of her circumstances. 

“She seeks power and respect,” Hakimi says, “but the choices she makes lead her into darker places.”

Adding to the authentic portrayal, Hakimi digs deep inside herself, reflecting inwardly on how she would react under the same circumstances. She believes that a piece of every character lives inside everyone, and in order to depict a story properly, one must turn inward to this. 

Hakimi also puts effort into making the character her own. In her opinion, every actor has their own “signature,” which is what makes different performances from different actors so unique and interesting. 

“I have the image of a woman who wants to ‘unsex’ herself to remove her emotions so she can pursue her ambition without hesitation,” she says of her own signature. 

This certainly applies in Lady Macbeth’s case, with Hakimi further describing her as an individual who views emotions as a weakness and passions as a hindrance to reaching her goal. 

Evidently, the role of Lady Macbeth is a very emotionally charged role, one that might be difficult to depict and may take a toll on an actress. 

Hakimi says that in order to properly convey such strong emotions in a controlled manner, she leaned more into the feelings behind the circumstances. She does not share many of the same experiences as Lady Macbeth, but she can understand the emotions evoked by them; this is what ultimately brings the character to life. 

Hakimi also acknowledges that a lot of support came from her castmates, especially during the long hours of rehearsals. Hakimi says that rehearsals began around 6 months ago and were 5 days a week, lasting up to six hours. 

“Our director, Robert, asked us to stand in a circle and hold our castmates’ hands, and make a commitment to protect and support each other as a group and to create a great show together,” Hakimi says. 

In Hakimi’s eyes, this eased a lot of tension and relieved her of stress, reminding her that everyone there possesses the same goal: to deliver a strong story and message to their audience. 

The world of theater has always been a sort of safe place for Hakimi. From an early age, she recognized it as an environment where she could feel various emotions and experience circumstances outside of her own in a controlled environment. 

Her interest in theater first began when she was 14 in Iran, and then she immigrated to the US at 20 to pursue her passion, she says. She came to Saddleback specifically because she heard about the college’s positive reputation through friends.  

Since then, Hakimi has performed in various roles, notably The Mute in “The Fantasticks,” Scrooge in “A Christmas Carol,” and now Lady Macbeth in the play “Macbeth.”  

She notes that she cannot pick a favorite since each role is so different and therefore special. She also makes it clear that she believes every role is of equal importance; no role contributes more to the story than another.       

“Each of them guided me in the right direction as an actor,” she says. 

From this specific show, Hakimi asserts that she has learned a lot. Every step of the process includes something to learn from, whether it be a rehearsal or warmup, she says. It has not only taught her to progress as an actor, but she has also learned to better understand human emotions. 

In this specific show, Hakimi had to learn how to not only balance the emotional side of the role, but also the confusing language of a Shakespeare play. What helped her most was repetition and taking notes from her director,  she says.

Saddleback’s production of “Macbeth” included shows through April 12 in the McKinney Theatre. 

Hakimi hopes that her audience travels into Lady Macbeth’s world, experiencing what she believes to be the most powerful feature of theatre, the inspiration to reflect on emotions and choices, ultimately leading the audience member towards the proper path in life.

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