Judi Dench reveals director told her she 'won’t ever make a film' as her was 'wrongly arranged'

Audition was at the beginning of her career

Rose Troup Buchanan
Tuesday 16 June 2015 16:13 BST
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Judi Dench has refused to reveal the name of the director
Judi Dench has refused to reveal the name of the director

Judi Dench has revealed her worst interview ever – after a director told her she was too ugly to ever star in any film.

The actress, who would go on to win an Oscar and six film Baftas, as well as a host of other accolades and awards, has never revealed the identity of the director or the “big film” that she had auditioned for.

But in conversation with Richard Eyre on the BBC she says the director said at the end of the audition in the 1960s: “Jolly nice meeting you but I’m sorry, you won’t ever make a film because your face is wrongly arranged.”

Dench in the 1980s

Fortunately, the anonymous director was proved very, very, wrong.

Dench, now 80, was best known for her acclaimed theatre performances until her breakthrough film role as ‘M’ in James Bond in 1995 until her retirement in 2012.

Following her performance, she was cast as Queen Victoria in Mrs. Brown (1997), going on to win an Academy Award for her role in Shakespeare in Love, and being nominated for an award for Chocolat (2000), Iris (2001), Mrs Henderson Presents (2005), Notes on a Scandal (2006) and Philomena (2013).

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