Dame Dench’s role as M carried over from Pierce Brosnan James Bond films into the Daniel Craig era. Much more substantial than a mere cameo, Dench helped provide the connective tissue between the two very different eras of Bond films, and continued with the role through 2012’s Skyfall.
According to Judi Dench, she owes her movie career to one man, a certain Harvey Weinstein. But how does one thank a man who seemingly has everything? Tattoo his name on your ass, of course.
Weinstein revealed on the BBC’s The Graham Norton Show that yes, the long-rumored story that has taken on legendary proportions is true — Dench tattooed “JD loves HW” on to her butt as a token of thanks for kick-starting her critically acclaimed and awards-laden late career as a movie star.
An established and incredibly successful British television and theater actress, Dench came to the big screen relatively late, with Weinstein convincing her to take her first role as Queen Victoria in 1997’s Mrs. Brown, for which she received an Academy Award nomination for best actress. The relationship with Weinstein continued and landed Dench with three more acting nominations as well as a best supporting actress award for 1998’s Shakespeare in Love.
Weinstein explains that Dench felt compelled to thank him. “She took me to the Four Seasons Restaurant. She said, ‘I’ve got a surprise. You’re a guy who has everything. I don’t know what to get you.’ ” So in front of a table full of guests that included Carly Simon and the late Mike Nichols and Nora Ephron, Dench “unbuckles her pants. And on her bum, as you say, was ‘JD loves HW’ — a tattoo. She said, ‘I put your name on my ass.’ “
Weinstein also relayed how at the 2013 Baftas in which Dench was up for best actress for Philomena, Oprah Winfrey asked him if the story about the tattoo was true. He said he asked Dench to show Oprah, where upon Dench dropped her pants at the Baftas to give her an eyeful of the inky tribute to the producer.
See the full video below.
