20 years after appearing in her first-ever leading role in a movie as Queen Victoria in Mrs. Brown, Judi Dench will be portraying Victoria once again in the movie Victoria and Abdul.
The seven-time Oscar nominated actress will star in a heartfelt drama about the Queen’s friendship with an Indian Muslim man named Abdul (Ali Fazal).
Director of the movie, Stephen Fears said of casting Dench as Victoria that it was clear as she is the biggest female star in England. “That’s why she’s so phenomenal at playing a queen, because she’s adored and trusted by everyone, including the current queen.”
This movie will also show a lighter side of Victoria, which sat very well with Dench’s funny and mischievous character. The actress admitted that she has quite a reputation for giggling saying that she can be a serious person, but sees humor in a many things.
“I’ve always found quite difficult about keeping it straight. I’m a terrible laugher. If anything goes ever so slightly wrong, my tendency is to laugh a great deal. Somehow not being allowed to go to pieces, such as when I’m acting, makes doing so even more irresistible.”
For the last 40 years of her life, after her husband’s death, Victoria wore black. “I put a lot of padding on under the corset, didn’t wear any makeup, and just got on with it,” Dench says. However, the actress was weary about showing one thing, her ‘capre diem’ tattoo she got on her wrist on her 81st birthday.
