Photograph: Robert Viglasky/BBC/Carnival Film & Television LtdĪlthough Cumberbatch dominates the screen, this is far from a one-man show. “You had to be a very tall girl, I think.Keeley Hawes as Elizabeth, Judi Dench as Cecily and Phoebe Fox as Anne. “They just laughed when it was announced,” she said. She starred in a 1987 production of Antony and Cleopatra and recalled that her casting did not meet with critical approval. Queen Margaret is one of the few Shakespearean roles that Dench, 79, has not tackled during her illustrious career.ĭuring the Hay masterclass, she gave performances from plays ranging from Antony and Cleopatra to Twelfth Night, with Cumberbatch joining her for the latter as Orsino to her Viola.
It is the concluding part of The Hollow Crown, a series of Shakepeare history plays for the BBC, which began in 2012. The play will be directed by Dominic Cooke, former artistic director of the Royal Court. “Yeah,” Dench replied after a theatrical pause, prompting cheers from the crowd. “Would you like to be in Richard III with me?” he asked. But she was put on the spot when the audience were invited to participate in the discussion and Cumberbatch, from his seat in the front row, seized his opportunity. Appearing before an audience on the final day of the Hay Festival, in conversation with Richard Eyre, Dench was initially coy about whether she would take on the part.Ĭumberbatch approached her several months ago, it emerged, and had been trying to persuade her to play the role. The veteran actress will play Queen Margaret to Cumberbatch’s hunchbacked monarch in a BBC production this autumn. LONDON - Judi Dench is to star opposite Benedict Cumberbatch in Richard III after the Sherlock actor ambushed her during a Shakespeare masterclass.
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