Dame Judi Dench hates national treasure title

12 April 2021

Dame Judi Dench hates being called a "national treasure".

Dame Judi Dench

The 'Skyfall' star doesn't want the coveted title and instead wants to be a "rebel", according to her co-star Eddie Izzard.

Speaking in a virtual Q&A, Eddie said: "The term 'national treasure' gets laid at her doorstep and she doesn’t want it. She wants to be a rebel. She’s in touch with the 16 year-old girl in her. She wants to live life, work, and she’s a fighter. She doesn’t use the Dame title, she likes a chocolate Hobnob, and a glass of Champagne, and she’s going to keep living life."

Meanwhile, Judi previously confessed she "loathes" being a national treasure as she feels it sounds like "something very, very dusty, behind a glass" and she feels "pressure" to be a certain way because of the title.

She said: "No, no, no. I loathe that word ... It's something very, very dusty, behind a glass, in a corner. I don't want to be a relic ... You know, you just get on with life, don't you? And hope that the job you've chosen to do you do as well as you can. That's all you worry about. And be kind to people That's what's so wonderful about this lockdown ... is people's amazing kindness. The general public are very, very kind. And to each other ...

"I hate to play parts that are expected ... I want to play somebody who you think is a benign old lady sitting in a chair, and in actual fact is bumping people off. I'm looking for a lot of villains to play."

The 'Cats' star started her career as a stage actress and never thought she'd move onto films.

She added: "I never wanted to make a film at all, ever, and was told I wouldn't because I had the wrong kind of face to make films ... That was when I was at The Vic. I only ever wanted to do Shakespeare and be in the theatre. That's all, except that I trained as a theatre designer before that. That's what I originally wanted to be.

"I think there's no substitute for the theatre. When you've done a film, that's it. You can't change it. Then you go to see it and you're irritated intensely about the fact of the buttons that you chose to push to do that part. And you think 'Oh, what a chance missed.' ... But in the theatre, you can go on until you get it right, sometimes, if you're lucky."