There are actors who perform in their hearts and there are actors who perform in their heads, and there's an inspirational few who are actually able to do both, with gob-smacking technique and enormous emotional depth.  Then, there's the winner of tonight's award, who's also blessed with the gift of transformation.  So it's for his reincarnation as the artist Francis Bacon that I'm so honored to present the Evening  Standard Award for Best Actor to Sir Derek Jacobi.

In film, you’re very much in the director’s hands. It’s one of those things where I find theater has more job satisfaction at the end of the day. Because it’s you up there, you and them. No safety net. Something goes wrong, a thousand people see it go wrong. That’s the excitement and the terror and the fear of it. Film is much more secure. There’s much more pandering to the actor, 'cause if anything happens you just do it again...  I think in the movie world, which is a bastion of feudalism, there’s this triangle and the one at the top is the most important, and often the one at the top is the star actor or actress, and their consciousness of their stardom can often get in the way of  generosity . 

 Sir Derek Jacobi   1998

with Dame Judi Dench, Kenneth Branagh, Geraldine MacEwan and David Parfitt