Judi Dench Reveals Keira Knightley 'Bewitched' Her During 'Pride & Prejudice' Filming

Dame Judi Dench, the 89-year-old British acting legend, didn’t just admire Keira Knightley during the making of the 2005 adaptation of 'Pride & Prejudice'England—she was utterly captivated. "I was bewitched by Keira Knightley," Dench told Backstage Magazine, a rare and heartfelt admission from an actress who’s seen it all in her 65-year career. It wasn’t just Knightley’s beauty or talent. It was the way she moved through a scene, the quiet authority in her silence, the way she made Elizabeth Bennet feel alive—not just a literary icon, but a woman you’d want to have tea with. Dench, who played the formidable Lady Catherine de Bourgh, found herself watching Knightley between takes, stunned by her presence. "She had that thing," Dench said. "The kind you can’t teach. You either have it, or you don’t. And she had it."

The Magic of a Moment on Set

It’s easy to forget how young Knightley was when she took on Elizabeth Bennet. Just 19, fresh off her breakout in Pirates of the Caribbean, she was thrust into the weight of Jane Austen’s legacy. Dench, by contrast, was already a national treasure—Oscar winner, M in the Bond films, a fixture on stage and screen since the 1950s. Yet it was Dench who was humbled. "I didn’t expect to be so moved," she admitted. "I thought I’d be the one guiding her. Instead, she guided me." The chemistry between them was electric, even when they weren’t sharing scenes. Dench recalled how Knightley would linger after rehearsals, asking questions about Lady Catherine’s motivations, about the class tensions in Regency England. "She wasn’t just memorizing lines. She was building a world," Dench said. "That’s rare. Most actors want to be seen. Keira wanted to understand."

A Career Spanning Six Decades

Dench’s career began in 1957 on the London stage, when a director took a gamble on her: "I’m going to cast you as Ophelia, but you are not to tell anybody." She’d never done Shakespeare, and her voice—crackling, unconventional—wasn’t what casting directors wanted. But she had presence. And that, as it turned out, was enough. From there, she became a fixture of British theatre, then cinema. Her turn as Queen Elizabeth I in Shakespeare in Love won her the 1998 Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. She later embodied M in seven James Bond films, culminating in 2012’s Skyfall, where her character’s vulnerability and strength left audiences breathless. She was nominated for eight Oscars total—more than any other British actress in history. Her filmography reads like a who’s who of British cinema: Chocolat, Iris, Mrs. Henderson Presents, Ladies in Lavender. She played a widow who turned a theatre into a scandalous sensation, a novelist losing her mind to Alzheimer’s, a woman falling in love with a shipwrecked stranger in India. Each role was a revelation.

India, the Marigold Hotel, and a Second Bewitching

Dench’s love for transformative experiences isn’t limited to co-stars. In 2009, she spent nine and a half weeks in India filming 'The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel'India, playing Evelyn, a retired woman who trades her quiet English life for the chaos and color of Jaipur. "India was bewitching, completely," she told India TV News. "Nine and a half weeks. Heaven." The parallels are striking. Knightley bewitched her on set. India bewitched her off it. Both were about surrendering to something bigger than yourself—art, culture, emotion. "You can’t control it," Dench said. "You just let it happen."

A Career Fading With Sight, Not Spirit

Dench’s most recent film role was in 2022’s Spirited. Since then, she’s largely stepped away. Her vision, once sharp enough to read script pages under dim stage lights, has been ravaged by age-related macular degeneration. She can no longer recognize faces clearly. Reading lines is a struggle. She hasn’t appeared in a film since. Still, she showed up at the Chelsea Flower Show in London from May 21 to 25, 2024—her last public appearance. She wore a hat, smiled, and chatted with gardeners. No cameras. No interviews. Just presence. "I can’t see the words," she told IMDb in October 2025. "No, no, I can’t even see." But she doesn’t sound bitter. She sounds at peace.

Legacy Beyond the Screen

Dench’s influence extends far beyond her roles. She mentored younger actors quietly, often without fanfare. She refused to be typecast—even when offered more M roles, she said no. She turned down blockbuster sequels to focus on character-driven stories. She’s one of the few actors who made Shakespeare feel accessible, who made elderly women on screen feel complex, not tragic. Her friendship with Maggie Smith—another titan of British theatre—has become the stuff of legend. They’ve worked together in Ladies in Lavender and Victoria & Albert, and their off-screen bond is said to be as warm as their on-screen chemistry. Now, as she steps into retirement, she’s focusing on charity work, particularly for vision research and arts education for children. She still writes letters. Still reads poetry aloud to friends. Still believes in the power of a well-timed pause.

What Comes Next?

There’s no grand farewell tour. No biopic in the works. Just silence—and the echoes of her performances. But for those who saw her as Lady Catherine, as M, as Iris Murdoch, as Evelyn in India—she didn’t just act. She enchanted. And if Keira Knightley was the one who bewitched her on set, then Judi Dench, in turn, bewitched the world.