A larger than life public figure in her own right, Dame Judi Dench slips easily into the role of Queen Victoria in the movie Mrs. Brown. The renowned British stage actress effortlessly conveys the Queen's transformation from profoundly grieving widow to a vibrant, emotionally liberated woman and possibly the first feminist, under the influence of a Scottish commoner in the movie Mrs. Brown. Dench, who has also been sighted as M in the Bond film GoldenEye, spoke with me about reincarnating the Victoria's image for the screen during a very vulnerable period of the queen's life.PRAIRIE MILLER: Did you feel the spirit of Queen Victoria around you during the filming of Mrs. Brown in places that she had actually once been? Would you say you believe in ghosts and things like that?
DAME JUDI DENCH: In a way I'd love to say yes I did, but no, I didn't really. But there was one scene with Disraeli singing? Well, behind that was an amazing window that had a shutter across it. The shutter was opened, and there was a seat and that window. But here, at an angle, was a mirror. And it was from that mirror that Queen Victoria used to sit and look out, and then she could look up like that and see who was walking up behind her, if you'd be thinking of interrupting her. That was quite a moving thing, to sit there and think, that's exactly the place that she used to sit.
PM: How do you suppose Queen Victoria managed all those athletic maneuvers riding horses in long skirts, now not you've been put through it, especially in contrast to your co-star Bill Connelly, who got to wear the more viable short skirt kilts?
JD: It's amazing, especially with those really short stirrups. One leg has to go over the other, but then this leg can't do much, it's the other leg you have to depend on. Well, then trying to get off was an and I would be hanging. Then we'd get caught, then the microphone did. I mean, we had to have so many goes at it. And then my cloak would get caught. So just the physical thing of getting off that horse and getting on was amazing.
PM: You've directed in theater. Would you ever want to direct films?
JD: No, I wouldn't. And I've never really liked directing very much, because I find it quite a solitary business. I like to be part of something bigger, to be a jigsaw piece, that's what I like best. Because it is an agony, the moment of passing a work over to the public. Have you ever done it yourself? It's agony, I cannot begin to tell you. You sit there and you long to shout out, 'will you stop what you're doing and do it properly'? And you think, this is far too slow, I'm so sorry, but this is far too slow, don't you agree? You know, you're a nervous wreck about it. It's a hideous business. I like the challenge, but I haven't done any more since Macbeth and Look Back In Anger. And I may not do any more.
PM: Why is directing such an overwhelming affair?
JD: It takes such a lot out of you, because you've got to give to everybody equally. Let's say you have fourteen actors in the cast. It's like fourteen very, very unruly horses. Somehow you've got to get them to the finish line at the same time, but some of them just want to walk, some of them want to stop, and some of them want to charge. You know, it is a deeply onerous job, and you've got to feel really well for it.
PM: You're doing the play Amy's View right now back in London. How is that coming along, and where did you get the time to steal away from it to come to the U.S.?
JD: The play is in repertoire right now and this is my break. The reviews have been great, thank goodness. It's luck. Good reviews. good luck, bad reviews bad luck. That's all that can be said about reviews. That's what Sir Laurence said, isn't it?
PM: You done theater here before in the U.S. Do you think that will ever happen again?
JD:Who knows. I was here with the Vic in 1959 for six months. And I had the most passionate love affair with America. I loved it so much, that when I was asked to come back, I said I can't go back, I can't. Because it's like a place where you were very happy as a child. You think, I can't go back because it's not going to be the same. That's what my fear was. And then quite suddenly, I felt different. But it's taken me since I was 23 years old to 62 now to change my mind about it. Anyway, in the last two days, there's been a lot of faxes going in between about Amy's View. So you never know. But it should be seen here.