Judi Dench: 'I'm no national treasure'

Dame Judi Dench has rejected the suggestion that she is a diva.

The Notes on a Scandal star also told The Times that she was not fond of being called a national treasure.

Dench said: "National treasure? I hate that. Too dusty, too in a cupboard, too behind glass, too staid.

"I don't want to be thought of as recognisable. I always want to do the most different thing I can think of next.

"I don't want to be known for one thing, or as having done huge amounts of Shakespeare and the classics. I hate speaking as myself."

Of Harvey Weinstein describing her as the "diva" of Nine at its recent world premiere, Dench added: "I am very un-divaish. Very rarely in 52 years in the business have I met anyone who has behaved in a selfish way.

"I had no film career until Mrs Brown, which Harvey oversaw. He gave a lunch for me at the time and I told him I had his name tattooed on my bum. I hadn't, I had my make-up lady design something that I showed him. He's never forgotten it."