“Before it’s too late”: why Judi Dench always wanted to work with Jack Nicholson
Judi Dench has had the privilege of working alongside dozens of A-list talents across multiple decades. Few actors can claim to have starred alongside both the acclaimed theatre actor John Neville and Leonardo DiCaprio, but Dench can, and then some. Over the years, she’s worked with everyone from Franco Zeffirelli to Taylor Swift, Ian McKellen to Cher. And throughout it all, she’s maintained her reputation as being the scene-stealer of every film, no matter how small the role.
Starting her career as a Shakespearean stage actor playing the likes of Ophelia and Juliet, Dench took a relatively long time to earn the acclaim she deserved outside the theatre. When she won the Bafta award for ‘Most Promising Newcomer’ in 1966, she was already in her 30s, even though she had been earning a reputation as a formidable acting talent since her early 20s on stage.
By the time directors started casting her in movies, she was an established member of British theatrical royalty. In fact, just four years after receiving the ‘Most Promising Newcomer’ award, she was created Officer of the Order of the British Empire. Less than two decades later, she became a Dame.
Most actors would kill to work with Dench. Who wouldn’t want to be upstaged by the actor who won an Oscar for fewer than six minutes of screen time and was the only person to be offered roles before fellow dames like Maggie Smith and Joan Plowright? But there is one star with whom Dench is desperate to work. During a 2004 press conference at the Taormina BNL Filmfest, the Oscar winner was asked if there were any actors or directors she wanted to work with.
“I would like to work with Jack Nicholson,” she replied and then added rather ominously, “Before it’s too late.”
More than two decades later, there is good news and bad news. The good news is that it still isn’t too late, given that they’re both alive. The bad news is that they’re a lot less likely to collaborate now than they were in 2004. Dench is now so limited by macular degeneration that she can no longer read scripts. Although she told The Guardian earlier this year that she doesn’t want to retire, she also acknowledged that she hasn’t been able to work because of the condition.
Nicholson is also all-but-officially retired. He hasn’t made a film since 2010 and doesn’t seem particularly eager to jump back into the fray. Perhaps if someone told him that Dench was still hoping to work with him, he might make an exception. Until then, however, we’ll all just have to imagine the cinematic magic that could have been created had they joined forces.
One collaboration that Dench mentioned fondly in the same press conference was even more surprising. “It was exciting to work with Vin Diesel,” she said, referencing the science fiction film The Chronicles of Riddick, in which she played an angelic ambassador of the Elemental race. She described her experience on the film as “wonderful” and praised Diesel as an actor, saying, “Vin was so professional and rigorous to work with.” The feeling must surely have been mutual.
