, she was a delight. Just don't call her a national treasure. 'Shut up, Louis,' she said, when he dared to suggest it. The phrase, she explained, made her think of 'some old cabinet with a dirty old glass front'. Whereas Dench is as sparkling as the champagne she cracked open in the kitchen. Theroux brought the Bollinger as a gift. He likes to show his workings in this series – the mechanics of how a celebrity interview like this is put together. So we saw Theroux and Dench taking their seats on a sofa in her comfortable living room while the production crew did their set-up, and Theroux frequently explained how he'd researched his questions by Googling things and watching clips on YouTube. This research was not foolproof: he reminded Dench that she once wrote a letter to Charles Spencer, former theatre critic of this newspaper, after he gave her a duff review, and told her that she'd called Spencer 'a complete s---'. In fact, she wrote: 'I've always rather admired you but now I realise you're an absolute s---,' adding for good measure that she would have liked to give him a good kicking. The programme made the most of the "at home" format. Dench introduced us to her parrot – to whom she speaks in a voice rather like that of Frank Butcher in EastEnders – and her ducks, and showed Theroux some envelopes she had framed because it tickled her that the letters had arrived despite being addressed to 'Dame Judi Dench, tiny front door in deepest Surrey' and 'Dame Judi Dench, somewhere in or near a woodland in Sussex'. The pair also took a stroll through the orchard, where the actress has named trees in honour of dearly departed friends. The tone of the interview was generally joshing and li){kind=link}
Dench lit up when talking about her acting career, but we saw genuine vulnerability when she discussed her late husband Michael Williams
For years, Netflix point blank refused to add a disclaimer to The Crown despite government pressure. Then Judi Dench says there really ought to be one, and 24 hours later it appears on the new trailer. Coincidence? I think not. Judi is all-powerful.
In Louis Theroux Interviews… (BBC Two), she was a delight. Just don’t call her a national treasure. “Shut up, Louis,” she said, when he dared to suggest it. The phrase, she explained, made her think of “some old cabinet with a dirty old glass front”. Whereas Dench is as sparkling as the champagne she cracked open in the kitchen.
Theroux brought the Bollinger as a gift. He likes to show his workings in this series – the mechanics of how a celebrity interview like this is put together. So we saw Theroux and Dench taking their seats on a sofa in her comfortable living room while the production crew did their set-up, and Theroux frequently explained how he’d researched his questions by Googling things and watching clips on YouTube. This research was not foolproof: he reminded Dench that she once wrote a letter to Charles Spencer, former theatre critic of this newspaper, after he gave her a duff review, and told her that she’d called Spencer “a complete s—“. In fact, she wrote: “I’ve always rather admired you but now I realise you’re an absolute s—,” adding for good measure that she would have liked to give him a good kicking.
The programme made the most of the “at home” format. Dench introduced us to her parrot – to whom she speaks in a voice rather like that of Frank Butcher in EastEnders – and her ducks, and showed Theroux some envelopes she had framed because it tickled her that the letters had arrived despite being addressed to “Dame Judi Dench, tiny front door in deepest Surrey” and “Dame Judi Dench, somewhere in or near a woodland in Sussex”. The pair also took a stroll through the orchard, where the actress has named trees in honour of dearly departed friends.