Video: Dame Judi Dench Talks Shakespeare and Her New Book on CBS MORNINGS

Her new book, Shakespeare: The Man Who Pays the Rent, is available now.

By: May. 02, 2024
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Dame Judi Dench and her colleague Brendan O’Hea stopped by CBS Mornings on Wednesday to discuss her new book, Shakespeare: The Man Who Pays the Rent.

In the interview, the two artists talked about the many hours of conversations that they had gathering material for her book, which details the many Shakespeare roles she has played throughout her career.

Dench made her debut as Ophelia at the age of 22 at the Old Vic, but her experiences with Shakespeare began before that. She recalls the first time she saw her older brother step on stage in Macbeth and say the line "What bloody man is that?"

"This is Shakespeare?" she remembers thinking. "This is swearing!"

Though many of her performances have been captured on film, the actress says that she doesn't like to look back because "You can't change it. And it irritates you so much."

Also in the interview, she discussed her transition to film and the difficulties that came with that. "I went for an audition once for a film and the director said 'I'm sorry, but you haven't got the face for film'"

Dench went on to win an Oscar for her performance in 1998's Shakespeare in Love.

Dame Judi Dench is considered one of Britain's best actors of all time. Since playing Ophelia in Hamle' at The Old Vic Theatre over 60 years ago, Judi has garnered wide popular and critical admiration for a career marked by outstanding performances in both classical and contemporary roles. She has won numerous major awards - including an Academy Award, 10 BAFTA Awards, and a record eight Laurence Olivier Awards - for work on both stage and screen.

Check out BroadwayWorld's review of her new book here.


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