Dame For A Laugh

There can't be a man, woman or child alive who isn't a Judi Dench fan. Of all the actors working today, no other star attracts the level of almost regal regard she carries in British acting circles. Accomplished thespian, Oscar-Winner and national treasure, an interview in this weekend's Sunday papers reveals that Dame Judi Dench also has a rather wicked sense of humour. "Oh Harvey's gone off me," she tells the Sunday Telegraph when asked why her string of Miramax roles seem to have dried up. "Perhaps he knows I've had his tattoo removed from my bum." See what we mean? Currently returning to the Stratford stage after a 24-year hiatus, Dench will play The Bard's iconic dowager, The Countess of Roussillon in All's Well That Ends Well - one of the few appealing Shakespearean characters remaining for an actress of Dench's age. "After this, it's the Nurse in Romeo and Juliet or Mistress Quickly. The Nurse! Fuck that for a game of marbles!" She's similarly unwilling to submit to ageist casting from friend and Shipping News co-star Kevin Spacey, who is currently serving as Artistic Director at the Old Vic - where Dench made her stage debut in 1957. "I hope we do something, but I told Kevin: 'I won't under any circumstances play your mother or your grandmother.'" The 68-year-old actress is (quite bizarrely) next appearing in sci-fi sequel, The Chronicles of Riddick alongside Vin Diesel, whom she describes as "absolutely charming". Dench will play an ethereal being called Aeron - a far cry from the stern, matronly roles she often finds herself cast in. But one effect laden sci-fi film doesn't mean Dench's feet aren't still firmly planted on the ground - talking about Ben Affleck's salary of