(Image: Aaron Chown / PA Wire)
A York-born internationally recognised icon of stage and screen has described the 2019 film adaptation of Cats as "a waste of all that goodwill and talent" in her newly published memoir.
Dame Judi Dench's Is It Too Late to Make a Run for It? is published today, and The Guardian is reporting that within it, the Oscar-winning actress reflects on her role as Old Deuteronomy in the film adaptation of the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical and the orange fur coat she wore as the character.
The Guardian reports Dame Judi writing in the book: "Oh God, I can't bear it, and [Lloyd Webber] had waited so long for it to be made.
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"What a waste of all that goodwill and talent.
"I understand the critics were rather hostile to the film.
"I never saw the final cut so I can't judge.
"All I'll say is nobody sets out to give a poor performance or make a bad film.
"You do your best, offer something up and hope that people will get on board and join the party."
The Guardian said Dame Judi revealed in the memoir that she felt "ill at ease from the beginning" and that the role "just didn’t feel right."
Despite her reservations, she found some positives in the experience, including meeting Taylor Swift and playing Bananagrams with her vocal coach, The Guardian reports.
She also enjoyed discovering that she "could still lift my leg in the air."
On the final day of filming, co-star Jason Derulo, who played Rum Tum Tugger, gave her 50 gold spray-painted everlasting roses.
Dame Judi writes: "There were no villains in the making of Cats.
"And if something isn't a success, then there are always things you can say you've learned.
"Sometimes things just don’t work out: the timing’s wrong, the cast don’t gel, the elements don’t coalesce.
"But people’s intentions are mostly honourable."
Publisher Penguin Books says on its website that in the memoir "Judi gradually starts to reveal herself, in collaboration with her friend and writing partner, Brendan O'Hea.
"With her actor's gift for storytelling, she takes us back to her upbringing in York; the parents who shaped her, the brother who encouraged her to act and the teachers who inspired her."