The actress plays Queen Victoria in this epic biopic.
After an acclaimed career in theatre, Judi Dench took her first leading movie role playing Queen Victoria in 1997's Mrs Brown, earning an Oscar nomination in the process. Two decades later she returns to the role for Victoria & Abdul, another story about how the Queen's offbeat friendships shook up the royal household, this time an Indian Muslim named Abdul Karim (played by Bollywood star Ali Fazal).
Judi Dench and Ali Fazal star in 'Victoria and Abdul'
Now 82, Dench says she had no intention of returning to play Victoria, but the script was too good to resist. "I thought it just gave another huge insight into her life," she says. "The whole episode with John Brown was strange, but I thought it was totally understandable, which I believe that this relationship was too. It's somebody that she found she could just talk to, and he talk to her, and she could ask questions and learn something."
She loved working with Fazal ("He is very, very tall, extremely beautiful, an utterly delightful, charming man") even though the role required her to dress down as the then-obese monarch. "I put a lot of padding on under the corset," Dench notes. "I didn't wear any makeup and just got on with it!"
Watch the trailer for 'Victoria And Abdul' here:
Directed by Stephen Frears (Florence Foster Jenkins), the film often plays like a comedy, which also appealed to Dench. "I just have to believe that she possessed more humour than we give her credit for," she says, "especially in this final part of her life with this wonderful young man, who she could talk to and tell jokes to. That shows such great spirit, doesn't it? And it's something we don't attach to that rather solemn view we have of her."
And she admits this helped her identify with Victoria. "I've got a bad reputation for giggling," Dench says. "I mean, I can be a serious person, but I see humour in a great many things. I've always found it quite difficult keeping it straight. I'm a terrible laugher! Somehow not being allowed to go to pieces, such as when I'm acting, makes doing so even more irresistible."
More: Judi Dench raps with Lethal Bizzle
Famously reluctant to be called "dame" or a "national treasure", Dench also says that she never set out to play iconic roles. "I don't particularly want to play queens," she laughs. "But if there's a queen that behaves really badly, well I long to find this film where this woman walks a tightrope and turns into a dragon! If that part is around, and she happens to be a queen, that's fine."
Essentially a sequel to the 1997 hit Mrs Brown, this film returns Judi Dench to...
The latest adaptation of Agatha Christie's 83-year-old classic whodunit, this lavish, star-studded film is old-style...
Queen Victoria was one of the United Kingdom's most loved monarchs. She ruled over her...
It's the 1930s and a group of strangers from different walks of life board a...
Ransom Riggs' bestselling novel is appropriately adapted into a movie by Tim Burton, the gothic...
Jake has always been an ordinary boy but when he finds himself on a small...
A badly under-developed script leaves a fine cast without much to do in this sequel...
Set eight months after the 2012 original film, The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel sees...
Based on a true story, this warm drama uses sharp humour to keep from tipping...
Judi Dench stars as Philomena Lee in the emotionally moving and shocking true story based...
British farces work on stage, but usually feel agonisingly stupid on screen. And this is...
Things get very personal for 007 in this high-quality thriller, which keeps us gripped even...
James Bond, the legendary MI6 spy we all know and love, is starting to struggle...
James Bond struggles with his career, experiencing lassitude and depression concerning his MI6 role as...