Judi Dench, 91, Reveals How She Wants to Die as She Refuses to Retire

Even at 91, Judi Dench won't be retiring anytime soon.

However, she did open up about her ideal plans for dying.

“I want to be like Newton Blick, who died in his dressing room after a performance,” she shared with The Times. “I want to be one of those women who throw themselves out of planes when they’re 100.”

In her interview with The Times recently, the Skyfall actress was also asked if she liked being called a “national treasure.”

In response, instead of agreeing and saying she felt thrilled about it, Dench snapped back.

“Loathe it,” she candidly exclaimed before explaining: “Makes me sound like a dusty old relic that’s been stuffed away in the back of the cupboard, along with some dinosaur fossils and a broken Roman shield.”

Continuing, she then talked about the only benefit that comes with ageing and growing old that she could think of.

“They give you a dressing room nearer the stage. Otherwise, forget it,” the Dame noted. “And you have to contend with people asking, ‘When are you going to retire?’ or, ‘Isn’t it about time you put your feet up?’ No, it b----- well isn’t.”

In fact, she even went ahead to say that she would like to “banish” words like “retire,” “vintage” and “old,” as she slammed questions asking about her own retirement.

This comes amidst the fact that the actress has continued working in the entertainment industry despite having macular degeneration, which causes vision loss.

Dench explained that she copes by “relying on other people,” and also often even pretending that she can actually see properly.

“I’m quite good at acting as if I can see,” she explained. “But then people think I’m cutting them dead when I don’t smile or recognize them.”

In her decades-long career, Dench opened up about the particular acting role she enjoyed despite preferring stage acting over appearing on film.

“I loved playing M because it was great to be able to tell all those men where to get off; put them in their place,” she admitted.

For instance, she said to Pierce Brosnan at their first meeting: “You’re a sexist, misogynist dinosaur.”

“I 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’t even work the ironing board,” Dench hilariously shared.