Dame Judi Dench dreads having to perform with schoolchildren.
The 79-year-old actress has enjoyed an incredibly successful career that’s seen her star on TV, on the stage and in award-winning films.
Yet the ‘Philomena’ actress admits she still harbours fears over appearing alongside schoolchildren, explaining: "I have always had a terrible fear of a lot of schoolchildren together. I don’t know why but I just have."
Speaking at the Cheltenham Literature Festival, Dame Judi explained that her sense of fear was particularly acute while filming the 2006 film ‘Notes on a Scandal’ with Cate Blanchett, though she insists she "had a wonderful time" shooting the movie.
Dame Judi explained to the Radio Times: "On my very first day playing this rather difficult part, I was confronted by a whole school of children. I was absolutely petrified."
However, Dame Judi concedes making the movie went some way towards helping her to overcome her irrational fear.
She added: "We used several of them in the film. They all turned out to be absolutely wonderful – completely committed and enthusiastic and interesting to talk to and interested in what we were doing.
"To some extent I got over my fear."
Judi Dench dreads performing with schoolchildren
