KATIE: Dame Judi Dench, good morning. So nice to see you again. JUDI: Good morning. And you.
KATIE: Tell me a little bit about Iris Murdoch -- who she was -- because maybe people in an American audience won't know much about her.
JUDI: I think she's very well-known in Britain. I first saw a play A Severed Head, which was an adaptation of her book in the 60s. Two friends of mine were in it and I was captured by the language in the play and the acting. And so I started to read some of her novels then. So she was a kind of a heroine to me before I was asked to play her.
KATIE: She died in 1999. Is that right?
JUDI: Ninety-nine or ninety-seven.
KATIE: And despite the fact that you feel as if everybody you know has met Iris Murdoch, you never did.
JUDI: No I must be the only person in England who never met her.
KATIE: How challenging was it to play a character who is of our generation who many people knew? Obviously you played many historical figures in the past, but this must have been a little daunting by comparison.
JUDI: It was hugely daunting. Um, playing Queen Victoria was quite daunting, but there aren't many people left who knew her.
KATIE: Right. [Katie laughs]
JUDI: There are many people left who knew and loved Iris Murdoch. She was kind of a many-faceted person and there are many aspects of her. I just hope that I've included as many aspects of her as is necessary to present the kind of person she was.
KATIE: Well, how did you go about researching that? Did you speak to a lot of her associates and people who knew her well?
JUDI: I did speak to a lot of people who knew her well in Oxford. And Richard Eyre, who directed the film also knew her. I read John Bayley's book on which the whole screenplay was based...
KATIE: It was based on two books, isn't that right? And this John Bayley was Iris' husband?
JUDI: Yes. I didn't...I chose not to meet him.
KATIE: Yeah, why? Why was that?
JUDI: Well because I think if you consider it, that you might be in that position to look at somebody who is about to play somebody who you knew and loved and were very, very close to, you know, you would see some kind of denial, I think, in their face and so I didn't want to do that before I did it. I would like to meet him now and ask his honest opinion.
KATIE: I know, but wouldn't you be a little frightened to ask his honest opinion? I would if I were you.
JUDI: Yes ... I'd be quite frightened he'd give it, too.
KATIE: [Imitating what Judi might sound like] "How do you think I did playing your wife?" I mean, that's kind of ...
JUDI: Yes, that's it, I don't think I'd say that. I think I'd just kind of sidle by a bit.
KATIE: ...and see what he had to say?
JUDI: Yes.
KATIE: This is ultimately -- I know the subject matter is quite depressing, obviously -- how someone succombs to Alzheimer's disease and the process -- but it is being positioned by Miramax as a love story and in many ways it is a wonderful, a wonderfully moving love story, isn't it?
JUDI: Yes, I don't think it's a film about somebody gently corroding away. I don't think it is that. I think it is about two extraordinarily unique and strange, odd people who found each other and made an amazing marriage.
KATIE: John's character is played by Jim Broadbent...
JUDI: Yes.
KATIE: ...who's so incredible and it's so nice to see his career on such a roll.
JUDI: Isn't it?
KATIE: He was in Moulin Rouge -- before that Topsy-Turvy so it must have been fun...
JUDI: and he now looks very young...he's got rid of all that white... I swear. I saw him yesterday. He looks absurd.
KATIE: He does?
JUDI: Oh, he looks just absurd. He looks like a young man.
KATIE: Well you need to talk to him about that.
JUDI: I don't want to have anything to do with him any more.
KATIE: Also Kate Winslet plays a young Iris.
JUDI: Yes.
KATIE: And she's so wonderful as well. Did you have much interaction with Kate on the set? Because it's almost like two different movies.
JUDI: We didn't have any interaction at all. We had one day when we crossed over. But what we both did was reference -- two interviews with Iris Murdoch which we both watched, so our references were to the real person.
KATIE: Well I absolutely adore Kate Winslet and I'm sure you probably, I think you're a fan of her work as well.
JUDI: I am.
KATIE: Well, the movie is Iris. You also have Shipping News coming out soon, so you've been quite busy yourself.
JUDI: Yes, I have. And The Importance of Being Earnest I did as well.
KATIE: Wow.
JUDI: Crammed it all into just a few days.
KATIE: Wow. Well it's great to see you and it's a privilege to talk with you as always.
JUDI: Thank you.
KATIE: Dame Judi Dench. Take care of yourself. Happy Holidays, by the way, and thanks for stopping by.
JUDI: To you.
KATIE: Iris opens in New York and Los Angeles on December 14th and will open in the rest of the country early next year. And you can see Dame Judi in The Shipping News which opens in limited release on Christmas day.