In the late 1950s, Judi Dench was invited to meet a major Hollywood producer about a possible film career. He told her she would never make a movie because “you have every single thing wrong with your face.” Dench, then 23 and about to make her professional debut as Ophelia in Hamlet at the Old Vic, left the meeting relieved and decided to focus on the stage. She later became a film star in the 1990s, playing M in the Bond films and winning an Oscar for Shakespeare in Love. “Being onstage is where I feel safest,” she says. “Yes, I’ve appeared in films, but I’d never consider myself a film actor.”

A Candid Conversation

Her new memoir, Is It Too Late to Make a Run for It?, is built around conversations with the actor and theatre director Brendan O'Hea, a friend with whom she also worked on Shakespeare: The Man Who Pays the Rent in 2023. The book confirms Dench's reputation for dry humour and plain speech. She says she has “no hang-ups about what I look like on camera,” adding: “Acting for me is not about looking glamorous. It’s whatever’s needed for the story.” Now 91, she also admits to a taste for pranks. While playing Mother Courage at the Barbican in London, she swapped the drinks served to two soldiers for cider vinegar.

A Loose Structure

The book uses a question-and-answer format. Its chapters are organised by theme, including faith, animals, directors, comedy and choosing roles, so the chronology is often unclear. It opens with her early life in York, the daughter of a GP, and closes with a chapter on what she did after her A-levels. O'Hea's questions sometimes become overly detailed, such as asking about her favourite dressing room. The format also leans heavily on shoptalk.

Even so, the book contains many entertaining stories and unusual details. Dench has a waste-collection truck named after her, “Dame Foodie Dench.” She once had a cat called Bernard the Duck Fucker, though O'Hea does not ask how the cat got its name. On the opening night of Madame de Sade, her co-star Frances Barber gave her a double-ended, bendy novelty item, which Dench wore as a scarf at the company's notes session. Dench also pays tribute to friends who have died, including Maggie Smith, whom she describes as “a very complex person – intensely private, and I suspect quite lonely at times.”

Memories and Nerves

Dench's humour and warmth carry the project. She dislikes being called a “national treasure,” saying the phrase makes her sound “like a dusty old relic.” Her eyesight is now poor, but she recalls her past clearly and with self-deprecating amusement. The title refers to her nerves before performances. She has kept her bag near the rehearsal room door in case she needs to leave quickly. Learning lines has become harder, but she has no plans to stop working. “Take the keys out of the ignition and the car will conk out,” she says. “Don’t retire, do not go gentle, and don’t even think about going quietly.”