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 alongside Billy Connolly.
Directed by Stephen Frears, Victoria and Abdul documents the close friendship that developed between Queen Victoria and Abdul Karim, a member of the Royal household.
Talking about accepting the role, she told last night’s 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!”
Asked about Queen Victoria’s reported romantic interests in her later years following the death of Prince Albert, Dame Judi said: “She was a goer and I am full of admiration!”
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.”
Mrs Brown was an unexpected blockbuster success at the cinema after it was originally commissioned for the BBC.
Filmed at Taymouth Castle, in Perth and Kinross, which doubled up as Balmoral and in the Highlands, Dame Judi’s performance saw her nominated for an Oscar.
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