Dame Judi Dench cried after hearing Bond character M was to be killed off

The actress said her husband initially encouraged her to take the role because he wanted to say he lived with a Bond woman

Dame Judi Dench, as M in Skyfall (Rex Features)

Dame Judi Dench has revealed she cried when Bond producers told her that M was being killed off.

The veteran actress played the MI6 chief in seven Bond films but her character met her demise in Skyfall in 2012.

She said she “laughed through her tears” when Bond producers told her the news over lunch in London.

“They told me gently and I laughed through my tears. Seven [Bond] films is a long time. But MI6 would have given her the push by now, don't you think?”, she told Radio Times magazine.

The actress, who turns 80 today, said that her late husband, actor Michael Williams, encouraged her to sign up for the Bond films.

“He wanted to live with a Bond woman. 'Oh God, oh crikey,' he said, 'you've got to do it.'"

Despite being killed off from the Bond franchise, the actress, who stars opposite Dustin Hoffman in the BBC’s adaptation of Esio Trot this Christmas, said she had no intention of retiring soon.

She is due to star in the Best Exotic Marigold Hotel sequel next year, and also features in the forthcoming period drama Tulip Fever.

The cast for the next Bond film, Spectre, was unveiled last week and will include Monica Bellucci, Lea Seydoux and Andrew Scott as new faces to the franchise.

Daniel Craig will return in the title role, alongside Naomie Harris, Rory Kinnear and Ben Whishaw.

Read more: Cast for new Bond film Spectre unveiled