Judi Dench
In the theatre you can change things ever so slightly; it's an organic thing. Whereas in film you only have that chance on the day, and you have no control over it at all.Collection: Chance
I think you should take your job seriously, but not yourself - that is the best combination.
It is not good to cross the bridge before you get to it.
Michael died five years ago this January, and the first thing that really struck me about the script was the part about her peeling off from the funeral and just getting into a rowboat and having a real kind of cry where nobody was.
Because, you know, I can't work a bicycle pump.
Seriously, though, I think I never ceased to be grateful of the fact that I am able to do a job that I really love - I never got over that.
Work certainly does help fill a void.
The more I do, the more frightened I get. But that is essential. Otherwise why would I go on doing it?
I am so thrilled to be nominated for something I loved working on every single day.
I work out the other bits, too, but I need to know what I look like, very early on. And then it's like a template; I'll fill that person out. If I get that out of the way, then I'm all right.
I think you've got to have your feet planted firmly on the ground, especially in this business, and you must not believe things that are said or written about you, because everything gets out of proportion one way or the other.
In contrast, the control you have in a theatre is very attractive to me.
It's incredibly moving to hear some of our greatest actors performing Shakespeare.
And then it was working with Bob Hoskins, who I had never worked with before - except radio. It was like being given a wonderful meal - full of the things you love most.
I need to learn every day.
Frankly, I never had any intense desire to go to India. I know that sounds a bit strange, but it just never was someplace I had a burning desire to visit.
I can't read scripts any more because of the trouble with my eyes.
It actually was a complete departure having a woman playing M. I didn't realize at the time that it would be so noticed.
People seem to have this idea that I've always been very ambitious. Nothing could be further from the truth.
I've figured out what to do so far, but it's always the next thing you come to where the man with the bucket of ice cold water is waiting - whoosh! in your face. That's why you work with directors who know what to tell you to do.
I just feel incredibly lucky to be employed when there are so many actors and actresses who are not employed. That's why, you know, I sometimes feel desperate, in case I'm not going to be cast again.
I've got what my ma had, macular degeneration, which you get when you get old.
I wanted to be a set designer when I was young.
Sometimes nudity is gratuitous. We just live in a society where everything goes.
The theater is the thing I love doing most.
I don't think anybody can be told how to act. I think you can give advice. But you have to find your own way through it.
I would hate people to think bossy is all I can do.
It was good to learn so early. They're not going to be kind to you. You have to do it and get on, and then gulp down and get better.
I'm very conscious that I'm in the minority in that I love what I do. How big is the number of people who are running to work to do a job that they like? And how lucky to be employed at it - how incredibly lucky.
I'd rather do a part because I want to, not because great things are expected of me.
Since Michael died I think I've worked constantly. Friends and colleagues are very sustaining. They're the people who get you through it... It's no good to be on your own.
I don't really want to retire. I intend to go on working as long as I can because I still have a huge amount of energy.
I've always loved painting, although I never show anyone what I've done. Mainly because I don't do it well. But it's like a form of visual diary for me. A way of fixing things in my mind.
I don't think that care homes are all rotten old places that ought to be shut down.
I have no control over a film. I don't know what will be left on the cutting floor.
Anything that we can do to improve the lives of elderly people is welcome so far as I am concerned.
It is true that there are few plays of Shakespeare that I haven't done.
The difficulty with any sort of esteem is that more is expected of you.
Actually, what I miss are people corpsing on stage.
I would like to work with Jack Nicholson, before it's too late.
I trained as a designer, so I'm always terribly keen about what I'm going to look like.
There are very few things that surprise me.
I love being part of a company, and telling a story.
My husband was actually very keen that I would become a Bond girl.
Some things you know about, you know what the ingredients are - maybe not all of them. But it's up to you to put in the amount. It's up to the director to nag you until you get it right.
People think you know beforehand when you win an Oscar - I can assure you you don't.
The Lord Chamberlin was censoring scripts when I first came into the theater.
I was in Yorkshire. We were a family of five and I used to be sent sometimes to get the rations for the week and I was easily able to carry them back. It was like one egg and a tiny bit of tea.
One of the benefits of being a mature well-educated woman is that you're not afraid of expletives. And you have no fear to put a fool in his place. That's the power of language and experience. You can learn a lot from Shakespeare.Collection: Benefits
Most things don't work out as expected, but what happens instead often turns out to be the good stuff.Collection: Inspirational