You have to get through the Hamlet hoop as a young actor. Your classical qualifications are based on the quality of your Hamlet. And then, as an older actor, you have to get through the Lear hoop. And I'm approaching the Lear hoop.
Derek JacobiI never lose that terror of 'this is my last job, I'll never work again.' You can never relax and rely on whatever reputation you've built.
Derek JacobiI had to think long and hard about what it would imply, what it would mean. Would it mean any alterations of one's lifestyle? Or, more than that, the way that people regarded you? The way they reacted to you if you had a Sir in front of your name?
Derek JacobiReal-life people are often the hardest to play, people that you recreate who have actually lived, because you have to live up to people's knowledge of those characters.
Derek Jacobi