Why did she sign on?
Most notably, they both showed up in 1998s best-picture Oscar winner,Shakespeare in Love, which just happened to be directed byMarigold Hotels John Madden.
It was like a theater company, actually, says Dench, left, of the Marigold experience. On tour, Wilkinson adds.
It was like a theater company, actually, Dench says. On tour, Wilkinson adds.
Both movies already have proven their box-office might overseas. No surprise that a blockbuster likeThe Avengershas amassed more than $200 million. But the modestMarigold Hotelis holding its own as it zeroes in on $70 million.
Dench lights up. Hows tricks?
It was like a theater company, actually, says Dench, left, of the Marigold experience. On tour, Wilkinson adds.
Soon enough, he plops down in a chair, looking rather tan after toiling on theNew Mexicoset ofTheLone Ranger. He seems preoccupied, however, and who can blame him after gazing uponJohnny Depps bizarrely costumed Tonto in the blazing-hot desert sun?
Finty, my daughter, reads scripts for me. She opened it to a line that says, What larks, Pip, taken from the Dickens classicGreat Expectations. Ive always used that phrase. Its a saying weve had in the mily. She said, Oh, Mom, dont read any further. What larks, Pip.
And, if they did, Wilkinson asks, what would you do?
Retirement does not seem to be in the cards for either actor as both continue to be in high demand for films big Wilkinson was inMission: Impossible Ghost ProtocolwithTom Cruise, Dench just wrapped up her seventh James Bond outing as spy chief M inSkyll and small, likeMarigold Hotel.
Played two American political figures on cable TV in 2008, founding ther Benjamin Franklin in theJohn Adamsminiseries and GOP leader James Baker inRecount, and was Emmy nominated for both (won forJohn Adams).
Critics say that is not the case withMarigold Hotel, which finds each senior struggling with unique circumstances while coping with living conditions that can kindly be described as shabby chic.
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Played two British queens, Victoria and Elizabeth I, in back to back years and was Oscar nominated for both.
Todd Plitt, USA TODAY
You look too well to be ill, she counters.
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But she is like Evelyn in terms of the outward manifestations. She was initially alarmed to find the role was very like her. She thought people wouldnt be interested in it. It was hard to persuade her that the opposite would be true.
The opposition might haveIron Manand The Hulk on its side. But the exquisitely pedigreed underdog known asThe Best Exotic Marigold HotelboastsJames Bonds boss andBenjamin Franklinas headliners asJudi DenchandTom Wilkinsontop an ensemble of seven seasoned Brits (average age: 68 vs. 36 forThe Avengerscast) as pensioners who head off to budget-friendly India to ride out their golden years.
Less memorable wasWetherbyfrom way back inacting scripts 1985. Tell Dench that youve never seen it, and she doesnt hesitate to confess, Neither have I.
Oh, I am ill深圳学生网, he insists with a prickly resolve. I dont feel bad. But Ive got all these symptoms. Perhaps realizing the conversation has devolved into a clichd exchange about health woes, Wilkinson shoos away the topic: Enough about me.
Then there was 2002sTheImportance of Being Earnest. Dench politely mouths her reaction upon hearing the title, but Wilkinson has no such qualms: It wasnt good.
The rest of the cast also was glad for Hardcastles arrival. Says Dench, She came to everybodys rescue with a huge trunk of medicinal aids.
Dench is reminded how a miliar reference in the screenplay served as a sign she should finally visit India.
He was touched by Wilkinsons emotional scenes but saves his highest praise for Dench. My moments with her I will cherish for the rest of my career. She has this dangerous sense of humor and is so open and giving. There were no airs about anyone.
Rock stars of cinema
Another plus for Wilkinson is that his wife, actress Diana Hardcastle, was hired as a love interest for Pickups goatish rake. Was it like a second honeymoon? Weve never had a first honeymoon, he says with a harrumph. Ive done it a few times, worked with my wife. And initially I thought, This is not going to be so good. But it has always turned out to be a blissful experience.
Dev Patel, 22, the English-born star of 2008sSlumdog Millionaire, knew he had his work cut out for him when he agreed to play Sonny, the eternally optimistic if ill-equipped innkeeper who lures the oldsters to India. I was quivering in my boots to be working with these rock stars of cinema.
As for Wilkinson, whose breakout came in 1997sThe Full Montyas a steel-mill supervisor turned stripper,He is a very rare beast, Madden says. He is astoundingly versatile. He can play the most imperious maligned soul imaginable at one moment, and then he can play a decent nobody and pull it all off effortlessly. I do not know quite how hes doing what he is doing. He just works off basic instinct.
Dench: I dont know.
Another lurks on the multiplex horizon. The official kickoff movie of the summer might beThe Avengers, a comic-book conglomeration of the usual action-packed superheroes.
She and her late husband,Michael Williams, starred together in the British sitcomA Fine Romance, 1981-84.
Two words: John Madden. Their initial foray, 1997sMrs. Brown, earned the actress her first of six Oscar nominations for her performance as Queen Victoria. Hes the most delightful man to work with, she says.
Todd Plitt, USA TODAY
Having directed both actors multiple times, Madden knows what makes this stellar pair tick. Judi finds it easier to play a part very different from who she is, he says.
What superpower could match the grace that radiates from Dench, 77, as the silver-haired legend coos over doing a segment on theTodayshow the day before to promote animal adoption?
She was Queen Elizabeth I. He was a loan shark. And one of them took home anAcademy Awardfor a mere eight minutes of screen time. It wasnt me, Wilkinson duly notes.
Wilkinson: What would I do?
NEW YORKEvery now and then, a film comes along that serves as a healthy reminder to a youth-obsessed society that theres no expiration date on talent.
Two peas in a pod
But also opening Friday is a travelogue infused with comedy and drama thats supported by a different dream team, one whose skills were honed by treading the boards of Englands heralded stages instead of working out on a treadmill.
Cocoon.Driving Miss Daisy.Gran Torino, withClint Eastwoodon the cusp of 80 proclaiming with Dirty Harry-like grit: Get off my lawn!
I cant read very well now, says the actress, who recently went public with the news that she has vision-impairing macular degeneration.
People
Mobster Carmine Falcone in 2005sBatman Begins; an IMF leader in 2011sMission: Impossible Ghost Protocol.
USA TODAY ranks celebrities each week based on media exposure. See whos No. 1 and cast your vote.
Mrs. Brown, 1997;Shakespeare in Love, 1998 (win);Chocolat, 2000;Iris, 2001;Mrs. Henderson Presents, 2005;Notes on a Scandal, 2006.
Theres a cozy comfort level between Dench and Wilkinson, whose guy-next-door visage masks an endless reserve of dramatic know-how, that comes from being colleagues on at least three other occasions. Indeed, the entireMarigold Hotelgang which includesMaggie Smith,Bill Nighy, Penelope Wilkinson,Celia Imrieand Ronald Pickup is quite uous, having performed together regularly over the years.
Such nice dogs there. A beagle, very nice. An Irish wolfhound. Nice dog that. I spoke to my mily about it, she says. Then, a bit sheepishly, Dench adds, Our dog is hearing every word of it. Alas, her interview partner, Wilkinson, 64, is running behind. He should have heeded one of the folksy sayings vored by Franklin, the American icon he portrayed to Emmy-winning acclaim on HBOsJohn Adamsminiseries: Lost time is never found again.
He and wife Diana Hardcastle appeared as Joe Kennedy Sr. and wife Rose in the 2011 miniseriesThe Kennedysand are inThe Best Exotic Marigold Hotel.
He tends to trust his gut. You have that thing when you are an actor, a moment of recognition when you read something and you think, I want to do this. I want to do this. Ill do this. The last consideration is how much you are going to get paid. That never really comes into it.
Wilkinsons Graham is a newly retired gay high-court judge who has returned to the land of his youth to reunite with a long-lost love. Why did the actor, who also collaborated with Madden on last yearsThe Debt, sign on for the 9½-week shoot in Udaipur and Jaipur?
Meet two actors who are in the prime of their careers at an age when most people retire. Both Judi Dench, 77, and Tom Wilkinson, 64 co-stars in The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel earned their acting stripes on the British stage and in TV roles. They found their breakout roles in movies the same year: 1997.
Im feeling under the weather, he declares.
Denchs Evelyn is a debt-ridden widow who declares her independence by taking a job and learning the ways of the Internet as a blogger. Its a situation somewhat miliar to the actress, having lost her own husband of 30 years, actor Michael Williams, to lung cancer in 2001.
