Judi Dench: I still suffer nerves!

As a veteran of stage and screen, you’d think Dame Judi Dench would’ve mastered the art of public speaking. But the actress admits she still suffers from nerves.

Judi (75) reveals, “If I’m dressed as somebody else, with somebody else’s lines to deliver, then I’m fine. But if I have to make a speech myself, then I become ill with nerves.”

The oscar-winning ‘Notes on a Scandal’ star continues, “I was once asked to open the Chelsea Antiques Fair and I was actually sick in the taxi on the way. The driver told me to get out and by the time I got to the fair, it had already opened without me.”

Well, that’s one way to get out of making a speech! But it seems Judi’s not alone in the nerves department. Fellow acting legend Julie Andrews has admitted to feeling sick with worry about working with her daughter on a series of children’s books.

“We’re kind of two bossy ladies and we thought that we might clash,” says Julie (74). However, everything worked out and the mother-daughter duo has since released 23 books. “We now face each other as two equal women and we’re really very compatible,” the ‘Sound of ousic’ star says.