Judi Dench Quotes

I don't like reading scripts very much. I like it better for someone to just explain to me what it is about this story. I don't think anybody can be told how to act. I think you can give advice. But you have to find your own way through it. I have no control over a film. I don't know what will be left on the cutting floor. In contrast, the control you have in a theatre is very attractive to me. I just feel incredibly lucky to be employed when there are so many actors and actresses who are not employed. That's why, you know, I sometimes feel desperate, in case I'm not going to be cast again. I need a director terribly badly. I think you should take your job seriously, but not yourself - that is the best combination. I think you've got to have your feet planted firmly on the ground, especially in this business, and you must not believe things that are said or written about you, because everything gets out of proportion one way or the other. I work out the other bits, too, but I need to know what I look like, very early on. And then it's like a template; I'll fill that person out. If I get that out of the way, then I'm all right. It was good to learn so early. They're not going to be kind to you. You have to do it and get on, and then gulp down and get better. Seriously, though, I think I never ceased to be grateful of the fact that I am able to do a job that I really love - I never got over that. The more I do, the more frightened I get. But that is essential. Otherwise why would I go on doing it? The theater is the thing I love doing most. The thing about not reading scripts and my wanting a director to tell me a story is a risk I need to take. I need that real fear.