Dame Judi Dench urges people to live 'authentically'
Dame Judi Dench has explained how a candid conversation with her close friend Sir Ian McKellen made her realise the importance of living "authentically".
Dame Judi Dench thinks it is essential that people are able to live "authentically".
The 91-year-old actress chats with her fellow stage and screen icon Sir Ian McKellen in a new episode of her Sky Arts series Tea with Judi Dench and says that a powerful conversation about homosexuality made her realise the importance of authenticity.
Judi told My Weekly magazine: "Nobody should ever feel that they can't intrinsically be themselves. But also, nobody should be made to feel that they have to declare anything about themselves – sexuality, religion, their age, nothing.
"It's not about what we do but as long as people can live authentically as themselves. I feel that that is quite important."
Judi and Ian, 87, have been friends for more than half a century and she explained that the pair's conversation at her Surrey home on the show was "completely spontaneous".
The former James Bond actress recalled: "I met Ian on the path (to my house), we came in and sat down at the kitchen table, and we never drew breath.
"It was all so completely spontaneous, just what it should be like between two people who have known each other for such a long time and share so many memories."
Judi, who chatted with her close friend Sir Kenneth Branagh in the previous installment of the show, explained that her and Ian's familiarity with each other helped the conversation flow.
The Shakespeare In Love star said: "It was lovely to chat with Ian, because our friendship spans over 50 years, and when something has lasted that long there are very few surprises.
"My relationships with both Ken and Ian are very much based on a sense of humour.
"When I first started working with Ken it was on television and we were both sent out of the studio for laughing so much and we have been close friends ever since."
Judi has enjoyed a remarkable acting career spanning almost seven decades, but she claims that her success has been down to luck.
Asked to consider the impact she has made, the Oscar-winning star said: "I don't really sit and think about it... it's just the way my career has unfolded and how lucky I've been."
