Sir Derek Jacobi - Claudius

• Sir Derek Jacobi is one of Britain's finest Shakespearian actors and it was his portrayal of Hamlet in 1977 that convinced a 15 year old Kenneth Branagh to become an actor. Primarily associated with the theatre, having played Shakespeare numerous times, he has also starred in several films, including two by Branagh -'Dead Again' and'Henry V' and has a number of television credits including the role of Claudius in the BBC's critically acclaimed'I, Claudius'.
  
• Sir Derek Jacobi has had a long relationship with Hamlet - as put by Kenneth Branagh,'he played Laertes to Peter O'Toole's Hamlet directed by Olivier'. However it is the first time he has played Claudius, Hamlet's uncle, who murdered his brother and then married Hamlet's mother. Hamlet cannot rest until he has avenged his father's death and exposed Claudius. 'For me to play Claudius is that I don't think it is a part that I would be expected to play in the sense that it is a very big challenge because I think I've got to get over a lot of baggage that viewers may bring to a Claudius that I do because I am not on the face of it number one casting for it. I am not particularly heavy. Claudius is usually played by a heavy and I ain't a heavy.'
  
• Sir Derek compares films to his first love the stage. 'In films you don't have this worry vocally because you have microphones close to you. You don't have the worry of forgetting lines or bumping into the furniture because you can do it again. The cinema is full of safety nets because you can go on and on doing it, so long as the budget runs to it, until you get it right or until the director is happy with what you are doing'.