The one thing Judi Dench refuses to do: “I think it is always appalling”
Judi Dench has done just about every type of acting in her nearly seven-decade career, including theatre, film, and television. Beginning on the stage at the Old Vic, she played Ophelia and Juliet to critical acclaim before joining the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1961. She began acting on television from early on, winning the Bafta award for ‘Most Promising Newcomer’ for her role in the 1966 miniseries Four in the Morning and the award for ‘Best Actress’ for her role in the series Talking to a Stranger two years later.
It took a surprisingly long time for Dench to transition to the big screen, but when she did, it marked the beginning of a long and illustrious career. The Bond franchise, period dramas, and biopics have all given her the opportunity to show her range, and she even tried her hand at sitcoms in the 1990s with the beloved BBC series As Time Goes By.
Over the years, Dench has been nominated for eight Academy Awards and won once for her famously brief appearance in the 1998 film Shakespeare in Love. She’s also earned six Baftas, two Golden Globes, a Tony Award, and a staggering seven Laurence Olivier Awards. Her career has been so successful that it even became a joke between her and fellow grande dames of the British stage, Maggie Smith and Joan Plowright, who jokingly complained that she was always the first to get offered roles.
You’d think that a person with such a lengthy and consistent career would have no insecurities, but Dench has professed to be uncomfortable with one aspect of the job. Speaking to The Guardian in 2012, the Oscar winner said that she absolutely refuses to watch her own performances.
“I think it is always appalling to see yourself on film,” she said, recounting that her friend, the late theatre great John Gielgud, used to say that he wanted to be able to put one of his stage performances on his mantelpiece so he could see all the ways he could have done better. “There are always ways,” Dench continued. “In the theatre, you can change things ever so slightly; it’s an organic thing. Whereas in film, you only have that chance on the day, and you have no control over it at all.”
This became painfully obvious for the star when she appeared in the Clint Eastwood film J Edgar, playing Leonardo DiCaprio’s mother. Known for his ruthlessly efficient directorial style, Eastwood didn’t have time for Dench’s requests for more takes, leading her to find the whole experience frustrating and the epitome of what she loathes about film acting.
The fact that Dench will never get to see her performance as M in the Bond franchise or as a spirited Irish woman looking for her long-lost son in Stephen Frears’ Philomena is her loss, though it’s probably for the best that she’ll never have to endure the universal discomfort of watching herself and every other illustrious actor giving their all to the cinematic monstrosity that is Tom Hooper’s Cats.
