A chat with Dame Judi like a one-woman show

DAME Judi confesses to making mistakes: ìThere were hundreds of occasions when it was life versus work… life being the most important but you learn from every single experience. RUBEN V. NEPALES

(Conclusion)

LOS ANGELES–In our recent London interview with Dame Judi Dench, it was like watching the esteemed actress give a private one-woman act. You can say it was one of the most enjoyable monologues by a thespian not appearing in West End. Outside, it was dark and raining but, inside a meeting room at the Claridge’s Hotel, Judi was a delightful conversationalist–prone to laughter and dishing self-deprecating quips in that distinctive voice (the voice of Spaceship Earth, no less, in Epcot Center). She even stood up at one point.

“The tea’s arriving,” she beamed at the sight of a waiter bearing a cup and two small jars of honey. “Thank you so much,” she said. She opened a jar of honey and poured some into the cup of tea. “This is lovely,” she said after a sip. “This is Assam tea. Ever since I went to India four years ago, I have it every day. I love it. It’s the state of being in anticipation of having a nice time.”

She declared, “I hate Earl Grey. It’s like drinking perfume to me. I found in India this very thin mixture of Assam tea without any milk in it but with honey. It gives you tremendous energy.”

Not many people know that Finty Williams, Judi’s daughter with her late actor husband, Michael Williams, is also an actress. Told how challenging it must be for Finty to be an actress and have Judi Dench for a mom, the 80-year-old thespian quipped, “Nightmare of a mother. Yes, it’s probably difficult. I want her to be herself. She has a quality of her own which should be what it is. That’s her own specific nature.”

Judi conceded that it was unsurprising that Finty, her only child, would become an actress, too. “I suppose with a father and a mother who are both actors.”

Closet moment

Judi recalled how Finty went one night to the National Theatre when she was playing Gertrude in “Hamlet” in the 1980s. Judi went to her dressing room after a closet scene to change into another costume. She saw Finty there and then went back to the stage. When Judi returned to her dressing room, Finty was dressed in her costume from the closet scene. “It was inevitable,” Judi remarked.

Judi said of Finty, “She is at the moment rehearsing for ‘The Hotel Plays’ which are taking place at the Langham Hotel in Portland Place. Later on, we hope to work together, which is terrific. She played one of my daughters in ‘Mrs. Brown.’ She was in ‘Ladies in Lavender’ for a moment.”

Sam Williams, Finty’s son, surprised his famous grandmother at the end of our interview by joining her in posing for photos. Judi looked affectionately at her red-haired grandson.

Judi recalled how she coped with losing Michael after 30 years of marriage. “After Michael died in 2001, I worked on three films,” she said.”ìI did ‘The Shipping News’ like eight weeks on. I came back and a day later, I started ‘Iris.’ I finished the whole of ‘Iris’ and went back and finished The Shipping News.” Then I did The Importance of Being Earnest.

“It was a good way of using the energy that grief engenders in you. It just took up my time learning lines. I still feel [like] a newcomer to films and therefore, I always have to work very hard on them.”

Friends help

Having friends in the cast helped. “I was with Kevin Spacey on The Shipping News and (director) Richard Eyre and Jim Broadbent on ‘Iris.’ I was with friends. I don’t want it to sound sentimental in any way but I felt that I had huge support. We didn’t have to talk about the fact that Michael had died but I did feel supported. I don’t know any other way that I could have done that.”

THE THESPIAN describes herself as a ìnightmare of a motherî to daughter and fellow actress Finty.

Judi’s reported love these days is conservationist David Mills. Speaking of which, Judi said with a smile, ìThe state of being in love is so wonderful when you’e glad to see somebody. They make you laugh and you like being with them. It doesn’t necessarily mean that you have to make any great big deal of it. It’s just lovely [to be in love].”

It’s almost hard to imagine it but Judi likes to sit down and do embroidery or tapestry. Well, it’s Judi Dench, so sometimes it’s naughty or “rude” embroidery. “I made a very rude cushion for somebody,” she said with a grin. “I am not even going to tell you what it said on the cushion. I expect it’s been printed somewhere.”

Indeed. The Guardian’s Michael Billington wrote: “When she (Judi) played in David Hare’s “Amyís View,” she presented its author, notoriously aware of critical reaction, with an embroidered cushion stitched with the motto: “F*** ’em, f*** ’em, f*** ’em, f*** ’em.”

Judi also makes it a point to learn something new every day. Asked what she learned today, Judi replied, “Do you know what a man who makes arrows is called? He’s called a fletcher.”

“I learned something new yesterday about William Shakespeare’s mother. She was called Mary and her first two daughters died. I didn’t know that. I have to keep learning something, even if it’s just the meaning of a word.”

Just one house

Judi said that she has one house only. That’s enough for her. “I don’t garden. Someone gardens for me. Excellent idea. They get to do it. You get to sit in it.”

And in the kitchen, she rated herself as an appalling cook. I’m absolutely terrible.

In “The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel,” Judi, Maggie Smith and Bill Nighy are back as British expatriates in India. “I think Maggie was as glad and surprised as we all were when it was suggested that we all went back and made another film. Richard Gere, Dev Patel, David Strathairn and

Tamsin Greig costar in this sequel to ‘The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel.î’”

An understatement

That Judi and Maggie go a long way back is an understatement. “She and I met in ‘As You Like It’ at the Old Vic in 1958,” Judi said. “We also did ‘Double Dealer’ which is a wonderful play by (William) Congreve. We’ve done lots of things together in film and plays.”

How different is the woman who debuted with the Old Vic Company in 1957 from the actress in front of us this afternoon? “Much older is the answer,” she cracked.

Then she said, “It was a great deal easier then for people to find work in the profession because there were repertory theaters all over the country. There was much more work, not necessarily for women but nevertheless, there were more opportunities.”

“It’s harder for drama students these days because it’s expensive to be trained. A lot of people want to do television or film straight away. When I started, there were places you could go to, to make your mistakes. You’d come out from three years’ drama school and you don’t know it at all. You have to make a lot of mistakes and learn about the way to work. There were all sorts of opportunities to do that. I don’t think there are those opportunities now.”

Judi confessed to making her share of mistakes in her life and career. “There were hundreds of occasions when it was life versus work. Life being the most important but you learn from every single experience.”

Judi, a practicing Quaker (member of a Christian denomination), said of mortality, “I don’t think of it much now. I’m confronted with it, of course, like all of us. The older we get, the more we’re confronted with it by our family and friends. I think it’s appalling and I just don’t think about it.”

Does she think there’s life after death? “I hope so,” she answered. “As a Quaker, I should.”

(E-mail the columnist at [email protected]. Follow him at https://twitter.com/nepalesruben.)