The Early Show -- Feb. 2002

CBS News Transcripts

The Early Show (7:00 AM ET) - CBS

February 14, 2002 Thursday

Interview

Academy Award nominee Dame Judi Dench discusses the surprise of being nominated for the fourth time

BRYANT GUMBEL, co-host:

When the Oscar nominations were announced on Tuesday, there were the usual amount of surprises and omissions. But Dame Judi Dench was neither of those. For the fourth time in the last five years, she was nominated for an Academy Award, this time for portraying the English writer and philosopher Iris Murdoch in the film "Iris." Dame Judi Dench, good morning.

Dame JUDI DENCH (Best Actress Oscar Nominee, "Iris"): Good morning.

GUMBEL: Congratulations.

Dame DENCH: Thank you.

GUMBEL: Four times in five years. Is this old hat?

Dame DENCH: No. Oh, no, it's not old hat. It's always very, very surprising, indeed, and very overwhelming.

GUMBEL: Is it really surprising at this point?

Dame DENCH: Very. Very. Well, you know, so many films have come out, especially in the last year. Because of the intended strike, many, many films were done quite quickly. And so there's a lot of people out there giving very, very good performances.

GUMBEL: You have been honored by every dramatic society there--there is. You are arguably the pre-eminent actress of--of our era. What would winning an Oscar at this point mean to you?

Dame DENCH: Well, it goes down very, very big in Britain. And what is so wonderful here is I've never been here when I've been nominated. And everybody on the street knows, and says to you--and the lift and the elevator--and everyone say--you know, it's a wonderful way of cutting corners and people friendly straight away. And you feel as though you've got sort of instant friends. It's very, very nice.

GUMBEL: By the way, Brits did extraordinarily well in this year's Oscar nominations.

Dame DENCH: Didn't they.

GUMBEL: Besides you, it's Helen Mirren, and it's Maggie Smith, it's Kate Winslet, it's Ben Kingsley, it's Tom Wilkinson. The--the list goes on and on. I think you get...

Dame DENCH: Jim Broadbent.

GUMBEL: Jim Broadbent. I--I--your co-star--I believe--I believe there are 11 in all. How do you explain that?

Dame DENCH: Well, I think your kindness probably.

GUMBEL: Is it that? Or is it that--that the British put a much pr--greater priority on talent, whereas Americans tend to put a bigger priority on youth and cosmetics?

Dame DENCH: You've been reading Minnie Driver.

GUMBEL: I'm asking you.

Dame DENCH: No, I don't--in fact, I don't believe that Minnie was reported properly, but still--I don't know. I think--well, we have a long--we have a real--really long legacy of--of acting, and acting on the stage. Is it something to do with that maybe?

GUMBEL: I don't know.

Dame DENCH: I don't know. I don't know.

GUMBEL: Speaking of theater, I was surprised to see you say that you don't enjoy the process of filmmaking. How can someone who is so good at it not enjoy it?

Dame DENCH: Well, I said I didn't enjoy it. That's been a w--that's something I said about five years ago. And then "Mrs. Brown" and "Harvey Weinstein" happened. Actually it's wrong billing. It's "Harvey Weinstein" and "Mrs. Brown" happened. And--and then--and so since then, I've been offered a lot of f--film parts, and I've worked with a lot of people, and I've learned much more about it. I like it better now.

GUMBEL: Since we're talking about your past quotes, I've got to hit you with one I'm that I got out of The New Yorker. I find it absolutely hard to believe, I'm sorry, because I sit here in awe of you. You said that for you "performing is the antidote--an antidote to chronic insecurity." Is that an accurate assessment?

Dame DENCH: I don't think I ever said that, but it's probably quite accurate. I mean, I d--I'm not--I just find it--if you were to ask me to make a speech in public, I--I'd faint at the prospect. I'm--that is something that really frightens me. Not good at that, have no small talk.

GUMBEL: Still--still...

Dame DENCH: I don't think you ever get over that. If you're that kind of person, I don't think you ever get to be any better at that. But there's some-there is something about trying to be somebody else and tell another story that is a release.

GUMBEL: Which brings us to Iris Murdoch. Where does--where do you go within yourself to portray someone who is--who is fighting a losing battle with Alzheimer's?

Dame DENCH: I don't--I don't--I don't think you do go anywhere within yourself. I think you--you--I tried to imagine what it would be like to be a highly, highly, highly intellectual person, a philosopher, a writer, pro--probably as--arguably probably one of the best writers in England, and then suddenly find there were certain things, I mean starting with just not being able to recognize a word on a page. Or--or then--I mean, we all--I do it all the time. I can't remember names, but you think that's a kind of process of getting older. You think, what is that pers--you know. But to find that and then to find you can't recognize words, you can't--then start to--to--to be quite lucid in some bits and not in others.

(Excerpt from "Iris," courtesy Miramax Films)

GUMBEL: Is "Hiri--Iris" the hardest work you ever did?

Dame DENCH: It's probably the hardest part I've ever had to play simply because she died so recently and so many people knew her. And so there are many, many people with a one-to-one reference to her, which I didn't have. I never met her, but I must be the only person in Britain who didn't.

GUMBEL: Well, you get to speak to a large crowd perhaps on the night of the Academy Awards. Dame Judi Dench, congratulations again. Thank you.

Dame DENCH: Thank you.

GUMBEL: Thank you so very much.

Dame DENCH: Very much indeed.

GUMBEL: We're going to come on back in a moment. You're watching THE EARLY SHOW on CBS.

Thanks to Cindy F.