Judi Dench goes out with James Bond producer for her 90th birthday
She is known as the boss of James Bond or as Queen Elizabeth I in "Shakespeare In Love". Even before Judi Dench became a film star, she was one of the most sought-after theater actresses.
09.12.2024, 07:00
SDA
It makes her uncomfortable to be described as a national treasure, but that is exactly what she is. Dame Judi Dench is one of Britain's most renowned and popular stars of stage and screen. First an icon of the theater, and then at over 60 she became a film star and won an Oscar.
Judi Dench turns 90 on Monday (9.12.). "You get a bit nervous when everyone says 90," she admitted in an interview with the Sunday Times and joked. "I'd rather not think about 90 so much, but imagine I'm 29."
She wants to celebrate her birthday with her family. James Bond producer Barbara Broccoli also wants to take her out to dinner, Dench revealed.
Secret service boss M
The British actress, who was already a respected stage star in her home country, became known to a wide international audience as the boss of James Bond. In "Golden Eye" with Pierce Brosnan in 1995, she immediately made a strong impression. "I think you're a sexist, misogynistic dinosaur," she accused the new 007. "A relic of the Cold War."
After Brosnan's departure, Dench kept her role as secret service boss M despite the reboot of the cult series with Daniel Craig. In a total of seven films - eight if you count a short video sequence in "Spectre" (2015) - she played M, who has an almost maternal relationship with her secret agent.
Dench received her first Oscar nomination for Best Actress in a Leading Role for "Her Majesty Mrs. Brown" in 1998. A year later, she received it for her brief but unforgettable supporting role as Queen Elizabeth I in "Shakespeare In Love". "I never thought I'd win an Oscar with eight minutes of screen time," she told the Guardian.
Dench has been nominated for the coveted trophy a total of eight times, most recently in 2021 for the drama "Belfast". She has also won eleven British Film Awards (Baftas) and numerous other film and theater awards.
Filming "a torture"
Cinema audiences are at Dame Judi's feet. However, she herself has never really been able to get to grips with it. "For me, filming as a whole is torture. Because once it's in the can, it stays that way forever," she told British TV journalist Louis Theroux in a BBC interview.
"In the theater, you can make it better on Tuesday and maybe it won't be as good on Friday. But in a movie, the director decides. He says 'cut' - and that's the final version." Dench admitted that she had never seen many of the films she had worked on. "And I don't want to see them either. That would just annoy me."
The films she would rather forget include the musical flop "Cats" (2019) and the sci-fi trash "The Chronicles of Riddick" (2004) with Vin Diesel. "My family teases me about it," joked the actress with the infectious laugh. She hardly remembers the movie.
Love of the theater
Like many of her theater colleagues, Judi Dench prefers to be on the stage. Born in York on December 9, 1934 to an Irish mother and an English father, she attracted attention early on with her charisma and talent.
Immediately after drama school, she was engaged by the National Theatre in "Hamlet". The press reacted indignantly. "They said: 'How can the so-called National Theatre hire an absolute newcomer as Ophelia?", Dench recalled in a BBC interview. "They were really angry. That's why they took the role away from me in the end." This did not stop her great career.
She also found happiness in her private life in the theater. She met the love of her life in actor Michael Williams, to whom she was married from 1971 until his death in 2001. The couple often appeared on stage together or even starred in commercials together. Their marriage to Michael, who died of lung cancer, resulted in their daughter Finty.
David Mills has been Judi Dench's partner for almost 20 years. "I never thought for a minute that there would be anyone else in my life," she told the Mirror. "I'm very lucky." But they didn't want to get married or move in together. "We're far too grown up for that."
Humorous videos
Judi Dench proved that she has a great sense of humor and doesn't take herself too seriously during the coronavirus pandemic, among other things. She recorded short videos with her grandson Sam during lockdown, in which she danced choreographies to hip-hop songs. Sam posted the clips on Tiktok and briefly turned his grandmother into something of an internet phenomenon.
One video in particular, in which the Oscar winner wears movable bunny ears and laughs her head off, has remained a lasting memory. For Dench, who feels most comfortable when she is interacting with other people, the videos were a blessing. "It's saved my life," she said.
When her friends and colleagues Maggie Smith and Barbara Leigh-Hunt died recently, it was a big blow for Judi Dench. But it also made her realize something: "I think you're lucky to be 90," she told the Sunday Times. "At least I'm able to get from A to B and walk around. Heavens, I really have a lot to be grateful for."
