Dame Joan Plowright recounted how her agent had told her he would find her a part “(Dame) Judi Dench hasn’t got her paws on” while reminiscing with famous friends in a BBC film.
Documentary Nothing Like A Dame saw Dame Joan – who died on Friday aged 95 – meet up with friends Dame Judi, Dame Maggie Smith and Dame Eileen Atkins, to discuss life, ageing and their careers.
In the 2018 film, Dame Joan said due to her fading eyesight she had asked her agent to find her some parts she could still perform in, and joked about his reply, which saw him tell her: “We’ll look around for a nice little cameo that Judi Dench hasn’t got her paws on.”
It came after James Bond star Dame Judi had remarked: “We’re going to work forever if we’re asked Joan.”
To which Dame Maggie interrupted: “But you’re always asked first if I may say so, I’m turning on you now, it’s all coming out now.”
After hearing Dame Joan’s story, Dame Judi replied shocked: “How rude.”
Elsewhere in the Roger Michell-directed documentary, Dame Joan speaks about how it was “quite difficult when you’ve got two titles” in both dame and lady because “people don’t know which to use”.
She goes on to speak about her unease around the title of dame, adding: “I’m not sure about titles at all really, I have a feeling they’re Russia’s way of calling you a people’s artist.”
When quizzed by Harry Potter actress Dame Maggie over why she accepted, she said “I did, because everybody else had” – adding she did not want to be left out.
Dame Maggie went on to say how she was “nervous” and “terrified” when she first began working with Dame Joan’s husband Sir Laurence Olivier at the National Theatre, and went on to tell the story of when “he did knock me out”.
She explained: “He hit me, ‘out devil’, and I was there with some black marks on my face, oh dear.
“But I did say it was the only time I saw stars at the National Theatre, those were the days, hey?”
The group also spoke about working with their husbands, with Dame Joan saying “well, obviously, mine was the most difficult” but adding that it was a “great privilege to share in his life, as well as being a bit of a nightmare sometimes”.
She was also asked to give advice to her younger self, to which Dame Joan said: “I would say, get in touch with yoga or mindfulness at quite an early age, and learn about the brain and what influence it has on the body.
“All those things that I’ve come to be interested in later on in life, and could’ve done with doing earlier.”
Nothing Like A Dame is available to watch on BBC iPlayer.
