Paul Bettany and Will Sharpe on Becoming Rival Maestros in AMADEUS Series

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Adapted from Peter Schaffer's play, the series will debut on STARZ on Friday, May 8.

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The tale of Salieri and Mozart is returning to the screen in a new series adaptation of Amadeus, the acclaimed play by Peter Shaffer . This new version, reimagined as a miniseries by Joe Barton, offers an updated take on the material, with Will Sharpe and Paul Bettany leading the cast as the musical rivals. The premise, however, remains the same.

Amadeus follows court composer Antonio Salieri as he vows vengeance on Wolfgang 'Amadeus' Mozart (and God) after meeting the musical prodigy and finding him distasteful, vulgar, and careless with the musical talent that he so wishes for himself.

Bettany is the latest in a line of esteemed actors who have played the part of Salieri, which includes Paul Scofield , Ian McKellen , and, in the film version, F. Murray Abraham . Fortunately, Bettany went into the project already familiar with the material, counting the movie among his favorites.

"I was really excited to play Salieri in the way that I would be excited to play Iago. And there can be many interpretations of Iago, obviously, or Hamlet, so I didn't feel any fear of that," Bettany told BroadwayWorld.

The longer running time of the series also provided a new chance to explore uncharted aspects of the character. "[It's] an opportunity to express something different about Salieri and Mozart's music. But it also meant that we were able to move into the characters' domestic lives and have many more private moments with them than you are able to do in an hour and a half play or film."

Sharpe takes on the role of Mozart, the famed composer who serves as the foil to Salieri. The White Lotus star was also familiar with the movie and play, and wanted to dive into Mozart's musicianship and repertoire.

"An unusual thing for this was the physical preparation of learning to play the music and to conduct it and... being in his space without overthinking it," Sharpe explained. "With Mozart, there's a wealth of music to draw from. And so I found myself listening to his music a lot of the time and just kind of meditating on the character."

Even if this is a fictionalized version of real events, Sharpe also researched the man behind the music, uncovering some potential insights into the origin of the rivalry depicted in the series.

"There are some people who believe that the mythology of this relationship actually stems from towards the end of his life, when Mozart was less sound of mind. He started to become paranoid about Salieri and [believed] that Salieri was out to get him... and in actual fact, they were quite good pals."

Watch BroadwayWorld's full conversation with Paul Bettany and Will Sharpe now. In Amadeus, the pair are joined onscreen by Gabrielle Creevy, who plays Mozart's wife Constanze, along with Rory Kinnear , Lucy Cohu , Jonathan Aris , and Jessica Alexander, among others. The series will debut on STARZ on Friday, May 8.

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_Originally reported by [BroadwayWorld](https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/Video-How-Paul-Bettany-and-Will-Sharpe-Prepared-to-Play-Rival-Maestros-in-AMADEUS-Series-20260507)._