The director who told Judi Dench she’d never make it: “You have the wrong face”
Perhaps you know Judi Dench best as M, MI6’s Chief of the Secret Intelligence Service in seven James Bond films, or maybe you prefer watching the star in a variety of period dramas, like Shakespeare in Love, for which she won an Oscar. The actor is a British national treasure, although her career started on the stage rather than in front of the camera.
In fact, Dench was never set on becoming a cinema star, much preferring her time in the theatre. The actor only appeared in seven movies before 1985, the year that marked one of her first prominent roles as Eleanor Lavish in James Ivory’s film A Room with a View. From here, she began appearing on screen at a frequent pace, although Dench has never forgotten her roots in the theatre, repeatedly returning to the stage.
Dench began her acting career in the Old Vic Company, appearing in classic William Shakespeare plays like Hamlet as Ophelia and A Midsummer Night’s Dream. By the start of the 1960s, Dench was a regular of the Royal Shakespeare Company, becoming one of England’s most impressive dramatic actors. Evidently, Dench had the raw talent to play any leading lady she wished, leading her to appear in various plays each year across the country.
The actor also worked with the National Theatre Company throughout the years, establishing herself as a stalwart feature of British theatre. Despite her success, the actor found herself experiencing some harsh criticism at times, with one director, whom she refused to name, reportedly telling her she didn’t have the right face to become a star of the screen.
Luckily, this didn’t bother Dench too much due to the fact that she wasn’t initially interested in cinema, but it was undoubtedly still hard to hear such a comment about her appearance, something certainly rooted in misogyny and Hollywood’s ruthless and vapid treatment of female stars.
“He was perfectly nice. But at the end he said, ‘You’ll never make a film. You have the wrong face’,” she told The Sunday Times. “And I said that is fine, I don’t like film anyway. I want to go back to the theatre.” It’s unfortunately this kind of sentiment that is all too commonly found in the film industry, although it seems as though producers and filmmakers are much harsher on female stars than their male counterparts.
For years, a certain kind of female star has been seen as the ideal in Hollywood. She is typically white, thin, and heterosexual-presenting, with anyone who doesn’t fit this mould often treated like an outsider. Even for Dench, who fits these standards, she still wasn’t seen as ‘pretty enough’ to land certain roles in the film industry.
Regardless, Dench has since gone on to prove the director wrong, starring in many acclaimed films, ranging from Pride and Prejudice and J Edgar to Skyfall and The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. With eight Oscar nominations to her name, Dench has certainly found significant success in the film industry – let’s just pretend that Cats never happened.
