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But becoming a Dame can be nerve-wracking, so sharing advice with the newbies is of the utmost importance.
Judi Dench has the right idea (she was the first of the four to become a Dame).
And this is why we all want to have tea with these dames.
and barely being able to answer, no.
Dames: Theyre just like us!
And its not just early in their careers: Both Smith and Dench talk about fear on film sets.
Dont these ladies know who they are?
As if anyone would step to Smith, Dench, Atkins, or Plowright if they flubbed a line.
Set-photographing aint easy.Poor Mark!
Mark is the on-set photographer ofTea With the Damesand he takes a lot of shit.
Its not a knock on him!
Everyone has to start somewhere!
She thinks Mark has taken enough photos for a while and dismisses him.
It sounds a little harsh, but lets be honest Mark is having the time of his life.
Oh, to be bossed around byProfessor McGonagall!
Theres a paramedic out there who should be very, very scared of Judi Dench.Like,veryscared.
Theres a lovely little section in which the four actresses reflect on aging.
Perhaps reflect is the wrong word, since these ladies are never overly sentimental.
Ive just done 8 weeks inThe Winters Taleat the Garrick Theatre!
The story is honestly worth the price of admission for this thing.
), but it also provides the backdrop for one of the best moments of the entire film.
Whether this is method acting or not, youll never love Maggie Smith more than in this moment.
It was her husband, actor Michael Williams, who pushed her to do it.
She says he told her, I long to live with a Bond woman, and so she obliged.
The world is forever grateful.
Plowright would tell herself to get into mindfulness and meditation, things she relies on now.
Atkins wishes she wasnt so bad-tempered and that she listened more.
Her friends promptly boo her for being so forlorn about the whole thing.
Seriously, say it out loud.
Dame Judi Dench herself gets it, and so does Eileen Atkins, but Maggie Smith stumbles a bit.
Is this the real way Dame Judi Dench prepares for a scene?
Eileen Atkins doesnt think she needed the sixties to have a good time.And neither does Judi Dench!
Both Atkins and Dench were part of the Vietnam War protest in Trafalgar Square.
Judi Dench starts to take offense, but Plowright has a story to back up the claim.
Rude, but true.
And so she went on her merry way.
Maggie Smith would only take the role in a Canadian production for fear of being laughed out of London.
So basically what theyre saying is, SAME AS IT EVER WAS.
