#derek jacobi

The German subtitles revealed something that’s not in the original version!!!! Right at the end of the scene in the bar, just before the zoom in on the portrait of Terry Prachett, Asa Fell gets asked about the bookshop and he tells Anthony Crowley about Derek, the owner. The audio gets so quiet that you can’t make out the words Asa says after that.

In the English subtitle version, this is also it.

In the German version however, there is another line that continues the sentence. I’ll try to translate it:

"[Derek] persuaded me to help him when I stopped teaching."

He was a teacher! Asa Fell worked as a teacher before he worked in the bookshop!

In an interview, Michael Sheen said he took inspiration from Derek Jacobi's performance as Claudius in the television masterpiece, I Claudius. If you're unfamiliar, Claudius navigated the dangers of life in imperial Rome's courts while retaining a strong, moral center. His secret? Allowing everyone to underestimate him.

Here's a hint of what inspired Michael Sheen's portrayal of our favorite angel--Derek Jacobi playing opposite Sian Phillips (who played Mrs. Henderson in Good Omens). Look past the primitive make-up techniques. The performances more than make up for them. The full episodes of I, Claudius are on YouTube and probably other streaming platforms that feature British television programs. If you want to take a deep dive into Michael Sheen's acting influences while we're waiting for the Good Omens finale, you can't do better than watching I, Claudius. I have a feeling that Aziraphale will, once again, be underestimated. [A bonus is seeing Captain Picard (Patrick Stewart playing Sejanus) making out with Magenta (Patricia Quinn playing Livilla). Another GO link is that Claudius's son was Nero, who Michael Sheen played in a BBC series about ancient Rome.]