Quote Of The Day: Judi Dench On Curiosity

Dame Judi Dench is known for her iconic versatility on stage and on screen. The actor’s astounding body of work spans mediums and has earned various accolades over the decades. Dench has won an Academy Award for her performance as Queen Elizabeth I in “Shakespeare in Love,” and she’s earned a Tony, two Golden Globes, six BAFTAs, and seven Olivier Awards throughout her career.

Dench’s work in TV is as impressive as it gets. She has appeared in shows like like “Love in a Cold Climate,” “Angelina Ballerina,” “Cranford,” and “The Hollow Crown.” But she is best known for playing M in “GoldenEye,” a role she reprised in seven more James Bond live-action films, most recently in 2015’s “Spectre.”

Dench also appeared in films like Kenneth Branagh’s 1996 adaptation of Shakespeare’s “Hamlet,” “Chocolat,” “Pride & Prejudice,” “Belfast,” and “Murder on the Orient Express.” She has also delivered electrifying performances on stage while working for the National Theatre Company and the Royal Shakespeare Company.

Dench is the definition of an exceptional veteran actor whose mere screen presence enlivens every story, which is why she is today’s quote of the day.

“I think with everything you do, you can take something from it. You can take some more understanding. You learn something. You have a relationship with another person on a set or the director, and it’s not only taking but a lot of giving and exchanging views and getting your ideas changed and thinking, ‘I never thought about that before.’ That kind of stimulus is healthy and exciting. I don’t think we should ever know it all.”

The above quote is from Dench’s 2017 interview with The Talks. When asked whether acting has helped her find humor in life, Dench explained that every professional relationship thrives when there’s a balanced give and take of ideas and worldviews. There’s always something worth learning on set, as curiosity is the lifeblood of a healthy creative career. By extension, there’s humor to be found in such an environment.

Expanding on her curiosity to learn new things every day, Judi Dench said that she is keen on asking questions about things she isn’t aware of. 

“I want to learn something new every day, and I try to do that,” the actor said. “For example, today I learned a word: anatidaephobia … It’s the irrational fear of being stared at by a duck.”

Although Dench’s example is mostly tongue-in-cheek, her insistence on learning new things has seemed to work in her favor since she’s enjoyed a long and illustrious career. The ability to slip into a variety of roles comes with the willingness to be open to new ideas. 

“I get different ideas every day about the things I have left to do and explore in life,” Dench added, emphasizing the importance of nurturing curiosity at all times.

• “I can’t be ambitious. An ambitious person wouldn’t be going ‘backwards’ again, would she? I’m not ambitious in that I don’t want to go on acting. It is not a ‘non-put-outable light.’ What I want from life is my own family that is as close as my own family was: extremely close. I do lots of other things like painting and sewing and tapestry, which make me very happy; if I didn’t have these things, I would probably want to go on acting.” — from an unarchived 1968 interview with The Guardian

• “[Onstage experience] doesn’t do anything. You’re still nervous. You still feel you have an enormous responsibility. But I suppose experience has taught me there’s more to worry about. Everybody’s nervous, and it’s not your job to transmit nerves to anybody, to the rest of the company. So just get on and do it properly, or better. And the next night, do it better than that.” — from an interview with the BBC

• “What is so shocking now is that young actors don’t want to find out about the legacy that we left. It is not laziness; it is just non-curiosity. I think it is terribly important to know that whole history of theatre we have, why you’re in it, what people did before, the lives of actors.” — from a 2017 interview with Daily Actor