Legendary actress Judi Dench discusses her transition from James Bond to Shakespearean plays, including insights into performing Shakespeare, challenges of embodying diverse characters, and memorable encounters with other actors. Her deep understanding of Shakespeare's emotions shines through in her roles, making her a master on stage and screen.
Judi Dench's profound connection to Shakespeare stems from her childhood environment and early exposure to plays.
Understanding iambic pentameter and maintaining a natural delivery are crucial in performing Shakespearean roles.
Deep dives
Judy Dench's Immersion in Shakespeare
Judy Dench recounts her deep-rooted connection with Shakespeare stemming from her father's recitations and early exposure to Shakespeare plays. Her childhood environment, filled with recitations, singing, and immersion in plays, cultivated a love for Shakespeare that shaped her career aspirations.
Peter Hall's Influential Direction
Judy Dench reflects on Peter Hall's directing approach, emphasizing the importance of understanding iambic pentameter and the balance between observing the meter while maintaining a natural delivery. Hall's meticulous guidance during rehearsals, including emphasizing line endings and meter, contributed to Dench's profound appreciation for the intricacies of Shakespearean roles.
Challenges and Love for Shakespeare Acting
Dench discusses the challenges of performing Shakespearean roles, highlighting the complexity and depth of Shakespeare's language and characters. She compares the difficulties of acting in Shakespearean plays to modern roles like James Bond, stressing the support she feels from the text in Shakespeare's works. Dench reflects on the continuous learning process and the rewarding nature of performing Shakespeare on stage, where the audience's presence enhances the storytelling experience.
Probably far more people have now seen Judi Dench as M—the intelligence chief who’s the boss of James Bond—than anything she’s done in Shakespeare. With that unmistakably rich voice, she played royalty in “Mrs. Brown” and in “Shakespeare in Love.” But it is in Shakespeare’s plays, onstage, that Dench made her home as an actor, performing nearly all the major female roles in a stage career of some 60 years. It’s not just that the language is beautiful, she thinks; Shakespeare “understood about every single emotion that any of us might feel at any time.” Dench has distilled that body of knowledge into a book called “Shakespeare: The Man Who Pays the Rent,”a collaboration with the actor Brendan O’Hea that delves into each role in each production she performed in. Having trained as a stage designer, Dench decided to “have a go” at acting, and made her début at a young age as Ophelia at one of the most prestigious theatres in Britain. She talks with David Remnick about what’s hard—and not hard—in performing Shakespeare, and why she considers M in James Bond just as challenging.
Get the Snipd podcast app
Unlock the knowledge in podcasts with the podcast player of the future.
AI-powered podcast player
Listen to all your favourite podcasts with AI-powered features
Discover highlights
Listen to the best highlights from the podcasts you love and dive into the full episode
Save any moment
Hear something you like? Tap your headphones to save it with AI-generated key takeaways
Share & Export
Send highlights to Twitter, WhatsApp or export them to Notion, Readwise & more
AI-powered podcast player
Listen to all your favourite podcasts with AI-powered features
Discover highlights
Listen to the best highlights from the podcasts you love and dive into the full episode