Twice-knighted Derek Jacobi on nearly 70 years on the stage and screen

The legendary actor tells Katty Kay that his parents would have much rather he became an accountant or insurance broker, but finally came around when they saw him perform on stage.

With a shelf filled with awards, including Screen Actors Guild trophies, Emmys, a Golden Globe, a Tony and a pair of Olivier Awards, 86-year-old Sir Derek Jacobi has proven to be much more than “the classical Shakespearean actor of our generation,” as BBC special correspondent Katty Kay describes him during an interview at his home in London.

Sir Derek credits a serendipitous combination of luck and talent for his decades-long career, which includes roles in blockbusters like Gladiator and its 2024 sequel, and stints on sitcom Frasier, for which he won the 2001 Emmy for outstanding guest actor in a comedy series.

“Somehow, I was born to be an actor. That’s what I feel. There was never any alternative,” Sir Derek says about first appearing on the stage at the age of 17. He was born in north-east London to a father who ran a sweet shop and a mother who was a secretary. “That’s what I wanted. That’s what I thought I could do. That’s what I enjoyed.”

Enjoying the spotlight was just a part of his success. Sir Derek notes that after he found himself at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre (which he affectionately calls the Rep) in 1960, there wasn’t anything else that matched the euphoria of basking in an audience’s applause. It was a far cry from what his parents had hoped for. Like most, they’d expected their son to go into a field with stability, like accounting or insurance.

“I always thought… I wanted to be an actor. I had no talent for anything else,” he says. “Hamlet confirmed it.” After reciting one of the doomed prince’s monologues to Kay, Sir Derek admits that most of his roles have disappeared into the ether, but the work of the Bard has stayed with him since those early performances almost 70 years ago. “All the other parts have gone. Hamlet’s still around. Shakespeare stays.”

Sir Derek is quick to name drop some of his esteemed colleagues: Dame Maggie Smith, Sir Laurence Olivier, Dame Vanessa Redgrave, Albert Finney and Sir Robert Stephens. But he’s as quick to note that he didn’t have the classical training many of them had. He tells Kay that it was a bit of luck that led to his successes, which include being knighted by the late Queen Elizabeth II and earning the Danish Order of the Dannebrog.

“I think there’s talent and I think there’s luck. Without that luck, the talent isn’t enough on its own,” he says. “You’ve got to have the opportunity to show you’ve got talent. Without that opportunity… nobody’s seeing it.”

Another obstacle Jacobi notes was the fact that he was never seen as classically handsome. “They had a head start because they were nice to look at,” he says of Stephens and Olivier, while he credits being able to hone his craft in front of an audience from the age of 17 as what set him apart. He tells Kay that luck landed him that first job and his time at the Rep stood in for drama school. “It was a huge learning experience.”

And although Sir Derek says he hasn’t stopped learning, he works at a different pace now, and has learned to find new ways of working.

“You slow down,” the 86-year-old says. “It’s more difficult to remember lines. I used to have a very sharp brain. I don’t anymore. That, obviously, is age.” These days, he has some help with those lines via an earpiece just in case, with Kay likening it to a skier using a knee brace. 

“I’ve really had a charmed life,” Sir Derek says, reflecting on his career, his long-time husband, theatre director Richard Clifford, and the fact that he can still do what he loves. Sir Derek’s upcoming projects include appearances in episodes of Doctor Who Unbound and Good Omens as well as films The Vampyre: Blood & Ink, with Malcolm McDowell and action-comedy Tinsel Town, alongside Rebel Wilson and Kiefer Sutherland.

“I can’t complain about anything in my life.”

Influential with Katty Kay airs on Fridays at 21:30 ET on the BBC News channel.