Dame Judi's second act - I DON'T WANT TO MISS A BIT'

Despite failing sight, the legend insists she only sees pluses

When it comes to squeezing every last drop of fun out of life, no one does it better than Dame Judi Dench. The iconic Brit turns 90 this year and as far as she’s concerned, there’s no time for contemplating the pros and cons of getting older.

Instead, the Oscar winner is looking forward to “living in the now” and always finding “the pluses in life”.

“I try not to look ahead too much,” shares Judi. “If you start looking ahead, you miss the bits that are happening now. I find it very hard to talk about two or three days’ time. I think, ‘No, no, no, this bit is lovely.’ It’s a pity if you waste the moment. Life is too short.”

After 66 years in theatre and on screen, the Belfast star recently penned a memoir of sorts. Called Shakespeare: The Man Who Pays the Rent, it contains stories about the myriad productions she has appeared in since her theatre debut in Hamlet in 1957.

There was, for example, the time a snake came out of her wig during the curtain call for a stage production of Antony and Cleopatra. “I lost my voice for two days, I was so traumatised!”

Once, as the female lead in Romeo and Juliet, she drank the potion, fell to the floor and accidentally cracked some ribs. Despite the agony, she had to lie completely still until the end of the scene.