Great Television Villain: Livia

Sian Phillips from I, Claudius is a great villain!

Phillips was reportedly told--when she tried to concoct a motivation for Livia's evil deeds--"Just be evil." And some have read this starting point as, once again, misogynistic.

 

I think such critics do Phillips an injustice.

 

The remarkable aspect of Phillips' performance is three-fold:

 

1. She is honestly hilarious. The actress has perfect comedic timing. One of my favorite speeches comes when she attends the games. Beforehand, she visits the gladiators and delivers a level-headed criticism of their "professional tricks [that degrade the games] in order to stay alive!" She is utterly sincere and gives the scene--and many others--a hilarious dark comedic edge.

 

2. She portrays Livia as entirely consistent. Livia is a full personality. Granted, everything she does is to make Tiberius emperor. But she is exact and exacting in her targets. She doesn't kill Augustus until she absolutely has to--and she honestly mourns his loss in her life. She also has entirely human arguments with Augustus, played by Brian Blessed, and with Tiberius, played by George Baker. And while calculating and shrewd, she is part of her culture. Her desire to be made a goddess is based on true beliefs. 

 

3. She is acting opposite stellar peers, including Derek Jacobi.

 

One of my favorite scenes occurs when Livia and Claudius have dinner together near the end of Livia's life. She challenges him as not being a fool. In one flicked, upwards glance, Claudius demonstrates that he recognizes her as his match in a contest of wills. He is more morally sensitive than she but equally intelligent. He then speaks to her with the cool understanding that few people hear from Claudius other than Herod (played by James Faulkner).

 

"Ah," she says, "lost your stutter, too, I see."

 

She then begins to make excuses for all the murders she committed. She maintains that she did it for the Empire, but she comes across as a woman who is building up justifications (to save herself in the afterlife). The truth: she did what she did because she could, because she is like Claudius--without the gentleness but with an equally ruthless desire to survive. Except, now, she wants her soul to be preserved from hell.

 

In the end, as emperor, he makes his grandmother a goddess. She deserves the respect.