Judi Dench（在线收听）

Five years ago most Americans had never heard of Judi Dench. But then, in 1997, she landed her first starring role in a movie. She played Queen Victoria in the film, Mrs. Brown. Then, a year later, she played Queen Elizabeth in Shakespeare in Love and audiences around the world sat up and took notice. In the last five years, she has won an Oscar, two ¹⁾Golden Globes, and a ²⁾Tony. And she’s accomplished all this when she least expected it, at the age of 67.

Dench was only on screen for eight minutes in Shakespeare in Love, but that eight minutes won her first Academy Award. Eleven weeks later, she was on the red carpet again. This time, winning a Tony Award for “Best Actress”for her performance in the ³⁾Broadway play Amy’s View. 

Interviewer: Is it ⁴⁾gratifying to make that kind of step, that kind of achievement, when you’re not in your 20’s and 30’s?

Dench: When you’re so old, you mean? Yes, well it’s extraordinary.

Interviewer: So, it’s never too late?

Dench: No, never too late for anything.

And despite the success in movies, she’s still most comfortable on the stage, in front of an audience.

Dench (points at the edge of the stage): From here, it’s all ours, and from there, it’s all yours. But we have to kind of ⁵⁾woo you in, to understand what this extraordinary base is like. They’e done you the service of coming to the theatre and buying the ticket. What you have to do is to give them something and ⁶⁾bait them.   

Dench’s career has been anything but downhill. She made her first appearance on stage at nine, in local theatre with her brother and father; a doctor and ⁷⁾amateur actor. She went onto join the Royal Shakespeare Company, where she played many classical roles, including Othellia and Juliet, and performed opposite many of the leading men in British theatre. But all of that disappears when she becomes the character on screen, as here, in ⁸⁾Iris.(Lines from Iris: I’m trying to help you!)

Interviewer: You revealed the character often with just a look, the face, the eyes; sometimes without saying a word.

Dench: It’s not what you say, it’s what goes on between the lines. It’s the thoughts and on film, well on one degree, if you get the thoughts in the right order and up front there, the camera will pick up on it. CE