Judi Dench tells her version of Benedict Cumberbatch's "shocking" Richard III proposal

RADIO TIMES
13 October, 2014
By Susanna Lazarus



Judi Dench is a busy lady, appearing at the Cheltenham Literature Festival on Sunday before being whisked off to Cardiff to continue filming on Richard III, one of three new Hollow Crown films being made by BBC2.

But the actress's role in the Shakespeare adaptation is all thanks to her appearance at another festival earlier this year. Dench, 79, was in conversation with Richard Eyre at Hay Festival last June when Benedict Cumberbatch put her on the spot...

"It's a shocking story," recalls Dench. "We were doing Hay and I was instructing – I had to do the bits of Shakespeare that I remembered – and so I said to [Richard], 'You have to say three lines of this.' I was rehearsing and then Cumberbatch said 'I’ll do that for you'.

"So he leapt up on stage to enormous applause and did these three lines and then went and sat down again and Richard said, 'Any questions?' and there was one question and Ben Cumberbatch turned to my friend David next door to him and said, 'Shall I ask her?' David said 'Yes' and [Cumberbatch] said, 'Are you going to play my mother in Richard III?'



"It’s a very good way of being asked to do a part. You don’t mess about, you don’t spend ages dithering about it. When somebody asks you, say yes or no and I said yes."


READ MORE HERE: http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2014-10-13/judi-dench-tells-her-version-of-benedict-cumberbatchs-shocking-richard-iii-proposal

Dame Judi Dench: Benedict Cumberbatch is a true gentleman

TELEGRAPH
Tim Walker. Edited by Katy Balls
7:30AM BST 18 Sep 2014




Dame Judi Dench agreed to star opposite Benedict Cumberbatch in the BBC's Richard III after the Sherlock actor propositioned her during a Shakespeare masterclass at the Hay Festival. However, Mandrake can disclose that the pair are in fact old friends.

“I knew him when he was a little boy at prep school before he went on to Harrow," Dame Judi tells me. "His mother, Wanda Ventham, was at the Royal Central School of Drama a year ahead of me.”

“He is a true gentleman and a thoroughly good actor, which helps,” she says. “We start on Monday and it’s a huge project, six months in filming.”

Meanwhile, the actress says it is unlikely she will attend the Oscars next year. Despite being nominated for the Best Actress award, Dame Judi Dench was notably absent at this year’s awards after filming in India for the sequel to The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel clashed with the ceremony. Now, the actress, who turns 80 this year, confides that she is in no hurry to make an appearance.

“No, I don’t think I’ll attend,” she tells me. “I don’t imagine so.”


READ MORE HERE: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/celebritynews/11102811/Dame-Judi-Dench-says-Sherlock-actor-Benedict-Cumberbatch-is-a-true-gentleman.html

Judi Dench to star with Benedict Cumberbatch in Shakespeare

THE TELEGRAPH
By Anita Singh, Arts and Entertainment Editor7:59PM BST 01 Jun 2014




Dame Judi Dench is to star opposite Benedict Cumberbatch in Richard III after the Sherlock actor ambushed her during a Shakespeare masterclass.

The veteran actress will play Queen Margaret to Cumberbatch's hunchbacked monarch in a BBC production this autumn.

Appearing before an audience on the final day of the Hay Festival, in conversation with Sir Richard Eyre, Dame Judi was initially coy about whether she would take the part.

Cumberbatch approached her several months ago, it emerged, and has been trying to persuade her to take the role.

But she was put on the spot when the audience were invited to participate in the discussion and Cumberbatch, from his seat in the front row, seized his opportunity.

Dame Judi Dench is to star opposite Benedict Cumberbatch in Richard III after the Sherlock actor ambushed her during a Shakespeare masterclass.

The veteran actress will play Queen Margaret to Cumberbatch's hunchbacked monarch in a BBC production this autumn.

Appearing before an audience on the final day of the Hay Festival, in conversation with Sir Richard Eyre, Dame Judi was initially coy about whether she would take the part.

Cumberbatch approached her several months ago, it emerged, and has been trying to persuade her to take the role.

But she was put on the spot when the audience were invited to participate in the discussion and Cumberbatch, from his seat in the front row, seized his opportunity.


READ MORE HERE: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/hay-festival/10868771/Judi-Dench-to-star-with-Benedict-Cumberbatch-in-Shakespeare.html