Judi Dench Interview For ‘Skyfall’

Daniel Craig is back as James Bond 007 in ’Skyfall,’ the 23rd installment of the longest-running film franchise in history. In ’Skyfall,’ Bond’s loyalty to M (Judi Dench) is tested as her past returns to haunt her. 007 must track down and destroy the threat, no matter how personal the cost. When Bond’s latest assignment goes gravely wrong and several undercover agents around the world are exposed, MI6 is attacked, forcing M to relocate the agency. These events cause her authority and position to be challenged by Mallory (Ralph Fiennes), the new Chairman of the Intelligence and Security Committee.  With MI6 now compromised from both inside and out, M is left with one ally she can trust: Bond.  007 takes to the shadows – aided only by field agent, Eve (Naomie Harris) – following a trail to the mysterious Silva (Javier Bardem), whose lethal and hidden motives have yet to reveal themselves. Directed by Sam Mendes (American Beauty, Revolutionary Road, Road to Perdition), ’Skyfall’ also stars Bérénice Marlohe, Ben Whishaw, Tonia Sotiropoulou, Albert Finney and Ola Rapace. ‘Skyfall’ will begin its worldwide roll-out in the UK and Ireland on October 26th, with a North American release following on November 9th. My other interviews for ‘Skyfall’ can be found here (more to come): Naomie Harris, Ben Whishaw, Javier Bardem and Bérénice Marlohe.

M plays a much more prominent role in ‘Skyfall.’ The film really explores the complex relationship between Bond and M, perhaps more so than any other James Bond film before it….

Judi Dench: Yes. As head of MI6 I have lots more to do, and much more to be involved in – and some very, very naughty boys to deal with (laughs). It’s lovely to do, it’s a thrilling part to play. And you do get to be a huge figure of authority, you get to boss James Bond about (laughs). I do think there is a very special relationship between Bond and M. The relationship naturally has changed, simply as the years have gone by. I think in this one, ’Skyfall,’ you actually know how very close they are, and I don’t think that has necessarily been shown before. You see a lot more about the two individuals, and just how they interact. You see more of that, you’ve had hints of that before, but in ‘Skyfall’ you see more of it. Bond and M are two people who work well together. She’s obviously very fond of him, and she’s often accused of being preferential towards him – but she can also be ruthless about him. Daniel Craig and I struck up a good relationship the first time we worked together, and the relationship has developed as each script requires something a little bit more from us. That is especially true with ‘Skyfall.’

How do you find playing this classic character of M, and even redefining the character in many ways….?

Judi Dench: I certainly didn’t expect to ever play M, a great hero of mine played M, Bernard Lee. He’s the most marvellous man. The first bit of television I did he was in it, Bernard Lee was in it. Suddenly when I was asked, everyone I think thought it was because Stella Rimington had been made head of MI5. But my understanding is that the script was planned that it would be a female M before she was installed in that job. I don’t think I realised how much of a responsibility it was when I was playing M in ‘Goldeneye,’ that the character had changed sex. I don’t think I realised how important it was. It wasn’t until the film came out that I realised, “Oh, female M.” So you do feel very, very responsible. And I’ve had various things to do in offices for several James Bond films now. I once complained that I never got out in a Bond film, and then in one of them – I think in ‘The World is not Enough’ – we went to Stowe School, so they said, “You can never complain again.” (Laughs). So it was wonderful to come to ‘Skyfall’ and have much more to do.

‘Skyfall’ looks at a some of the incredibly tough choices M has to make as the head of MI6?

Judi Dench: Yeah. I think if you’re head of an institution like MI6, your responsibility is to a wider thing than to one agent. I mean, we know before that she’s let agents go. There’s a lot at stake in this story, there’s a huge amount at stake. And it’s whether or not she takes the risk on one person being destroyed or a whole lot of other people being destroyed. It’s a decision she has to make very quickly, and I imagine in those circumstances that’s what happens in real life.

How did you find it working with director Sam Mendes? I know you two had worked together previously on ‘The Cherry Orchard’?

Judi Dench: I know Sam very well, he directed me in ‘The Cherry Orchard’ when he was very young – it might have been the second or third thing he did. So I know him very well and we have a very good working relationship. In ‘The Cherry Orchard,’ one day I said…..and I hold this over him all the time, so I don’t mind saying (laughs), I said, “Sam, do you think I could possibly do this a slightly different way? I just want to try this and see if it will make a difference?” And he said, “You can, but it won’t work,” (Laughs). So I got my own back on ‘Skyfall,’ he asked me to do something and I said, “I can, but it won’t work.” (Laughs) It’s a very good working relationship indeed. I think when I knew he was directing ‘Skyfall,’ he rang me and said, “I see M wearing a lot of lace lingerie.” (Laughs) Something like that. We tease each other, we each give as good as we get.

You initially trained to be a set designer and costume designer. What is like working on a film like this where the sets and costumes are so detailed and elaborate?

Judi Dench: They take my breath away, after you’ve worked in that space for a day that becomes a really real place to you. The first set we worked on for ‘Skyfall’ was absolutely vast, it was an enormous kind of Underground station. You can’t believe it. The attention to detail is so fantastic. At this inquiry in the film, with all the papers in front of us, they were all to do with MI6. All of them, and they were in detail. They were not just bits of paper in with any old bits of paper. It’s so wonderful when designers are like that. It’s so helpful, but it’s so precise. I love that attention to detail.