London: James Bond star Judi Dench says she had an extraordinary energy after her husband Michael Williams died 11 years ago.
The 77-year-old British actress found it helpful to grieve by taking up one play after another in a short space of time, but she said that her busy working schedule nearly gave her agent a fit, reported Contactmusic.
“I had this extraordinary energy after Michael died. I went off to Nova Scotia and did six weeks on The Shipping News. Then I came home and two days later I started Iris. Then I did some more work on ‘The Shipping News’. And two days after I started ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’,” Dench said.
“My poor agent nearly had a fit because I was cutting things so fine. But I found working at that pace and doing those kinds of parts helped me. Whereas playing a grief-stricken widow would have been no help at all,” she added.
Despite steering clear of playing the role of a widow since Williams died, Dench is set to portray a woman whose husband has just died in her latest film The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, which gave her doubts about starring in the movie.
“It wasn’t just an emotional decision. There were professional reasons, too. I think if I’d played a grief-stricken widow too soon after Michael died I might have over-egged the part. Or at least I don’t think my judgement would have been that good,” she said. (PTI)