Judi Dench unfiltered
Legendary actress opens up about growing old, having kids and getting paid
Judi Dench, widowed in 2001, has been in a relationship with David Mills for the past few years. She has ruled out marrying again at 82, but struggles to find an adequate word to describe him.
“I don’t know what the word is because I don’t like the word ‘partner.’ Partner is something to do with dancing,” she told the U.K. version of Good Housekeeping. “Partner — horrible word. Friend? No. Boyfriend? No. Chap? Will chap do?”
The couple met when conservationist Mills invited Dench to open a red squirrel enclosure at the wildlife centre he runs.
“He is not going to propose. No, no, no, no, no. Let’s just pull ourselves together and be our age!” she said. “I have a jolly nice friend now.
“One hot night during the summer, we swam and then had a glass of champagne in the garden and I said, ‘This is so fantastic.’ But perhaps if I was a romantic I’d have been cool and calm about it. I get a bit over-excited about things.
“I love having a good laugh. A sense of humour is the most attractive thing of all. It’s essential.”
Dench was married to actor Michael Williams for 30 years. They appeared together in the 1980s sitcom A Fine Romance. He sent her a red rose every Friday.
They had one daughter, Finty, and Dench said her one regret was not having a great brood of children.
“I wish I’d had lots more children. I had planned to have six, easily,” she said. “The rewards you get out of it. Finty and I are so close.”
The actress will appear next in Victoria and Abdul, a film about Queen Victoria’s relationship with an Indian servant, Abdul Karim.
Despite multiple Academy Award nominations and one win, Dench holds out little hope that the gender pay gap will close.
“Salary, parts, you name it: it’s better now than it’s ever been, I think, but it will never be on a parity. Never.
“No matter how much we speak out. We are put in our place.”