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Join today<\/a><\/p>\n \n Already a member? Dame Judi Dench<\/a> has opened up about learning she was being axed from the James Bond franchise<\/a>.<\/p>\n Dench, who appeared as MI6 boss and 007\u2019s superior \u201cM\u201d over the course of seven Bond movies and one cameo appearance<\/a>, wrote about finding out she was being killed off from the franchise in her new memoir, Is It Too Late to Make a Run for It?.<\/p>\n \u201cI was taken to the Wolseley restaurant by Barbara, Michael and Sam [Mendes, the director] \u2013 I don\u2019t think Daniel Craig<\/a> was there \u2013 and they outlined the plot and told me they were going to bump me off,\u201d 91-year-old Dench wrote. <\/p>\n \u201cMy own fault, I suppose. Ever since Goldeneye, when the entire film unit went off to Monte Carlo and St. Petersburg and I only had three days in Watford, I\u2019d been begging them to let me out from behind my desk,\u201d she continued. \u201cWell, they did finally let me out from behind my desk … and they shot me. Apparently, it was Daniel\u2019s idea to have me killed. But first I had to suffer the indignity of being sacked by Ralph Fiennes. Arsehole.\u201d<\/p>\n Dench added<\/a>: \u201cIt was reported in the press that I\u2019d cried when they told me I was being replaced. Of course I didn\u2019t cry. Why on earth would I cry after twenty glorious years and eight Bond films \u2013 which, by the way, is one more than Roger Moore, the longest-running 007 to date.\u201d<\/p>\n Reflecting on her time with the franchise<\/a>, Dench said she \u201cloved playing M because it was great to be able to tell all those men where to get off; put them in their place.\u201d<\/p>\n Dench recalled<\/a> a particular line \u201cM\u201d said to Pierce Brosnan\u2019s Bond at their first meeting \u2014 \u201cYou\u2019re a sexist, misogynist dinosaur\u201d \u2014 as a particular pride point. <\/p>\n \u201cI was drunk with power. I also got to wear some very nice suits and pretend I knew what I was talking about; and to muck about with gadgets when, in real life, I can\u2019t even work the ironing board,\u201d she continued.<\/p>\n Dench joined the hit film franchise during Brosnan\u2019s time as Bond, appearing in GoldenEye, Tomorrow Never Dies, The World is Not Enough and Die Another Day.<\/p>\n She continued to play \u201cM\u201d during the start of Daniel Craig\u2019s tenure as 007, before being killed off in the 2012 installment Skyfall.<\/p>\n In promoting her new memoir, Dench revealed she is no longer able to act <\/a>due to her worsening eye condition.<\/p>\n The Oscar-winning actor was diagnosed with age-related macular degeneration<\/a> (AMD) in 2012, which has increasingly made everyday activities difficult.<\/p>\n
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Dame Judi Dench has reflected on her time in the James Bond film franchise (AFP\/Getty)<\/p>\n![\"Dench](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/131251183...jpeg\")
Dench has spoken about how she was killed off from the James Bond films by Daniel Craig (Getty)<\/p>\n