The favourite role of Judi Dench’s incredible career: “Really, really a good one to play”
With a career that stretches back almost 70 years and covers extensive work on stage, film, and television, Judi Dench has delivered countless top-tier performances and played so many unforgettable characters that could easily be named as the best she’s ever inhabited.
One of the United Kingdom’s greatest-ever actors, Dench has displayed remarkable longevity by remaining at the top of her game since day one. She might have been in a few duds and taken a couple of blatant paycheque gigs here and there, but that’s entirely forgivable, looking at the body of work and legendary status she’s earned through nothing but sheer talent.
Dench didn’t even need a huge amount of screentime to win an Academy Award, either, with Shakespeare in Love requiring her for less than six minutes, which was more than enough to win her an Oscar for ‘Best Supporting Actress’ in what was the second-shortest turn to ever win a trophy in the ceremony’s history.
In addition to a further seven Oscar nominations, Dench has also been the recipient of six Baftas from 15 nods, and that’s only on the feature-length side of the equation. On the small screen, she’s notched four gongs from a dozen nominations, and that’s without even mentioning a pair of Golden Globes, seven Olivier Awards, and a Tony.
Based on accolades alone, Dench is unquestionably one of the finest thespians of her – or any other – generation, so it wouldn’t be unreasonable to expect some hesitation on her part when it came to combing through her back catalogue for the best she’s ever been. However, it didn’t take her as long as anyone might think, with the star telling Metro an incendiary literary adaptation stands out from the pack.
“I enjoyed Notes on a Scandal,” she said. “I enjoyed it enormously, simply because it is very, very nice when you have done a few; the last thing you want to do is a film of the same character again. You want to do something different, and so Notes on a Scandal was really, really a good one to play.”
Proving that she can do malevolence with the best of them, Dench’s veteran, Barbara Covett, finds a kindred spirit with Cate Blanchett’s freshly hired art teacher. Drawn to the free-spirited younger educator, their relationship takes a darker turn when she discovers Blanchett’s Sheba Hart has been having an affair with one of her teenage students, and harbouring such a secret drives an increasingly large wedge between them.
With so many roles to choose from during her lengthy stint treading the boards and patrolling movie and TV sets, Dench is spoilt for choice to name her favourite. It would take something special to poke its head above the performative parapet and take top honours, and Notes on a Scandal was certainly that.
