Judi Dench’s foul-mouthed method of passing time on set: “Some were quite rude”
Everyone knows that appearances can be deceiving, and while it’s true that Judi Dench is a beloved icon of stage and screen and a venerated veteran of the performing arts, never let it be forgotten or overlooked that she’s got a mischievous streak a mile wide.
Most people would look at the diminutive star and think butter wouldn’t melt in her mouth, but in reality, she could probably guzzle hot sauce by the gallon and feel perfectly fine. It’s always the ones you least expect, and in Dench’s case, an activity that’s always been linked to the older generation gave her the platform to indulge her sweary side.
In most cases, nobody would be shocked to hear that an Academy Award-winning star who started their career in the 1960s would take up embroidery as they settled into their groove as a respected and beloved elder statesperson, with Dench spending her downtime on multiple film sets weaving away, as a lot of people in their 60s, 70s, and 80s, are wont to do.
However, it’s the messaging that’s unexpected, with one of the trophy-laden actor’s co-stars revealing her habit of making gifts for the cast and crew that are decidedly unsafe for display around the home. Then again, this is the same Judi Dench who handed a note asking if they fancied a shag to the wrong person in the middle of a stage performance, so maybe it’s not that unexpected at all.
“She makes these like needlework embroideries on set in the tedium of filming,” Pride and Prejudice colleague Matthew Macfadyen recalled. So far, so quaint, considering Dench was 69 years old when the cameras started rolling on Joe Wright’s Oscar-nominated adaptation of the classic Jane Austen novel. Then came the catch.
“But they are all: ‘You Are a Cunt,'” Macfadyen shared. “And she gives them as presents. And it’s Dame Judi Dench. And she is doing this beautifully, intricate, ornate work. You kind of see the work materialising as the shoot goes on. Like, ‘You Are a Fucking Shit.'” Keira Knightley didn’t get one as a gift, but she was definitely aware of their existence.
“She just sits there and she embroiders, and you think: ‘Oh, that’s so nice! It’s Judi Dench. It’s so quaint; she’s embroidering a cushion,” the Oscar-nominated Elizabeth Bennet explained. “And you go: ‘What are you embroidering?’ And it says, ‘Fuck.’ Apparently, she’s got hundreds of them just covered in swear words or rude sayings.”
Unfortunately, Dench’s failing eyesight has forced her to abandon her filthy hobby, with the actor no longer capable of embroidering to her full potential. When quizzed by the Daily Mail about whether the rumours were true and if she really did hand out gifts with swears and crude recreations of genitalia all over them, she answered in the affirmative: “Well, yes,” came the confirmation. “Some were quite rude.”
That would technically make anyone lucky enough to receive a foul-mouthed Judi Dench original embroidery the owner of a collector’s item, even if it’s not the sort of thing you want out when it’s time to break out the fine china.
