‘Even now, it’s so gross’: Dame Judi Dench would skip school because they served Yorkshire pudding with syrup
- Dame Judi Dench admitted she backed down to avoid the “disgusting” dish
- The actress has starred in numerous films including the James Bond franchise
- The 88-year-old added that her comfort food is mashed potatoes and onion gravy
Dame Judi Dench skipped school to avoid having Yorkshire pudding with syrup for lunch.
The Oscar-winner revealed that she would pretend to her mother Eleanora that she was uncomfortable when she was a young child at the private Clifton Preparatory School in York – the city where she was born.
Speaking to River Cafe owner Ruth Rogers on her podcast Table 4, Dame Judi said: “I’ve been trying to stay away [from school] on a Tuesday because they made Yorkshire pudding with syrup. Now, even now, this is so gross. It was always a Tuesday when I feigned illness.
Dame Judi Dench, 88, has two Golden Globe Awards, four British Academy Television Awards, six British Academy Film Awards and seven Olivier Awards, as well as an Oscar
“And about the third or fourth Tuesday my mom said, ‘Is this about school?’ She said, ‘It has nothing to do with illness.’ And it was a Yorkshire pudding with syrup. It was a terrible thing. That was in my prep school.’
Considered one of the best British actresses of all time, Dame Judi, 88, has starred in films such as Philomena, Chocolat, Mrs Brown and Shakespeare In Love.
In addition to an Oscar, she has two Golden Globe Awards, four British Academy Television Awards, six British Academy Film Awards and seven Olivier Awards.
But she has revealed that despite her A-list status, she didn’t get any special treatment playing M in eight James Bond films. Instead of being given a luxurious dressing room, she says, she was stuffed into a tiny room to get ready for her scenes.
Speaking to River Cafe owner Ruth Rogers on her podcast Table 4, Dame Judi (pictured) admitted that she had dropped out of school early to avoid Yorkshire pudding with syrup for lunch
When asked what franchise bosses Barbara Broccoli and Michael Wilson would feed her, Dame Judi replied: “They never fed me Bond. They kept me in a small room at the back. I once said to Barbara and Michael, ‘You guys go to such glamorous places and I’m just in this little office in the back all the time.’
“The next film we did – I can’t remember which one – we were at the Stowe School, they gave me a trailer for my makeup and everything…Barbara said to me, ‘You can never complain again.’ ‘ On the Ruthie’s Table 4 podcast, Dame Judi says she’s a terrible cook and can only make white gravy and gravy. She adds that her comfort food is mashed potatoes and onion gravy.