Shropshire Star

Dame Judi Dench is ‘full of admiration’ for Queen Victoria

The actress will play Queen Victoria on the big screen for the second time, 20 years after she first portrayed her.

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Dame Judi Dench on the Graham Norton Show (Isabel Infantes/PA)

Dame Judi Dench has said she is “full of admiration” for Queen Victoria and her “interest” in men in her later years, adding: “She was a goer!”

The actress will next be seen playing the late monarch on the big screen in her latest film Victoria And Abdul, 20 years after she portrayed her in John Madden’s film Mrs Brown.

Dame Judi Dench during filming of the Graham Norton Show
Dame Judi Dench during filming of the Graham Norton Show (Isabel Infantes/PA)

Talking about accepting the role, she told the Graham Norton show: “Diaries and letters have recently come to light.

“Abdul came to the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee to present her with a coin. But, having seen him she wasn’t so interested in the coin!”

Judi Dench, Jamie Foxx, Graham Norton, Kristen Wiig and Steve Carell during filming of the Graham Norton Show
(Left-right) Judi Dench, Jamie Foxx, Graham Norton, Kristen Wiig and Steve Carell during filming of the Graham Norton Show  (Isabel Infantes/PA).

The 82-year-old star said of portraying Queen Victoria again: “You never think you’re going to go back to revisit a character you played so long ago, but because I didn’t know about the story, because it was so beautifully written and directed, and because it was a part I had done all the homework on, it was irresistible, I couldn’t have said no.”

American rock band Haim performing during filming of the Graham Norton Show
American rock band Haim performing during filming of the Graham Norton Show (Isabel Infantes/PA)

American rock band Haim perform their new single Want You Back ahead of taking to the stage at Glastonbury music festival on Sunday.

:: The Graham Norton Show airs on BBC One at 22:35pm

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