Judi Dench reflects on her relationship with Robin Williams and how he supported her when her husband, Michael Williams, was battling lung cancer in her upcoming memoir, “Is It Too Late to Run Away?” »
Nearly 30 years earlier, Dench was staying in actor Billy Connolly’s Scottish home with her late husband when they met Williams. “One evening there was a big party in the woods with a ceilidh and a bonfire,” writes Dench (via People). “Michael was very ill at the time and I could see him getting weaker, so we said goodnight and started up this very steep hill.”
“Robin Williams appeared alongside us and offered to help, but Michael said he could handle it,” Dench continues. “And Robin said, ‘Well, I think I’m going to ride shotgun anyway,’ which was such a lovely thing to say. I’ve often thought about that moment: Robin’s sensitivity and understanding, just offering to be there, to support me kindly, without imposing himself.”
Dench had worked with the “Hook” actor years before in 1996’s “Hamlet,” and she received the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for the role of Queen Elizabeth I in Williams’ “Shakespeare in Love” in 1999. The iconic actress, who starred in films like “Jumanji,” “Good Will Hunting,” “Dead Poets Society,” “Mrs. Doubtfire,” and many others, died in 2014 at the age of 63.
Dench’s husband died on January 11, 2001, aged 65. The two men were married in 1971.
Also in his memoir, which comes out Tuesday, Dench spoke publicly for the first time about his experience acting in the 2019 film “Cats.”
Adapted from Andrew Lloyd Webber’s hit musical of the same name, the film was considered a critical and commercial failure despite its stacked cast — which also included James Corden, Idris Elba, Taylor Swift and others among Dench.
“Oh my God, I can’t stand it – and (Lloyd Webber) had waited so long for this to be made,” she wrote. “What a waste of goodwill and talent. I understand that the critics were pretty hostile to the film. I never saw the final cut, so I can’t judge. All I will say is that no one is out to give a bad performance or make a bad movie. You do your best, come up with something and hope that people get on board and join in the fun.”
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