DAME Judi Dench admits she doubted whether she could capture the spirit of her fellow dame, the late novelist Iris Murdoch, in a film tribute to her.

So uncertain was she of her ability to handle the role she turned down the chance to meet the writer's husband, John Bayley, until she had finished Iris, the film from renowned stage director Sir Richard Eyre.

It is based on Bayley's memoirs of his relationship with his wife, an eminent philosopher, who died of Alzheimer's disease in February 1999.

Dame Judi had read most of her novels and, when the role came her way, she threw herself into research, even though she had never met Dame Iris.

About her chance to talk with Bayley, she says: "I didn't want to meet him beforehand because I felt sensitive about looking into his eyes and seeing that he might think, 'No, this is not anything to do with Iris Murdoch'.

"I also thought I wouldn't, perhaps, be able to cope with everything I might hear from him about her."

Thanks to Mike Kennedy for sending me this article from The Daily Record on November 20, 2001.

Return