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Coronavirus: Judi Dench sports a comedy hat in light-hearted message of pandemic solidarity

Video of Oscar winner was posted by her actor daughter Finty Williams

Adam White
Wednesday 18 March 2020 10:03 EDT
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Judi Dench urges people to keep laughing while in self-isolation

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Judi Dench has shared a light-hearted message of solidarity during the coronavirus pandemic, all while wearing a moveable hat.

In the video, the Oscar-winning actor pretends to be caught by a camera while posing in front of foliage and sporting a hat shaped like a dog.

“Oh, there you are!” Dench says. “Just keep laughing, that’s all we can do.”

While speaking, the ears on Dench’s dog hat move seemingly by themselves.

The video was posted to Twitter by Dench’s daughter, the actor Finty Williams. Williams captioned the clip: “Message from Ma”.

Dench revealed last week (14 March) that she has yet to see Cats, the maligned musical in which she stars.

She also hadn’t realised that she’d been nominated for a Golden Raspberry award for her performance, the annual ceremony celebrating the worst in the past year’s filmmaking.

“Oh, am I?” she told BBC Radio 4, adding: “That would be good. As far as I know, that’s a first.”

Dench ultimately did not win the Worst Supporting Actress award at this week’s ceremony – rather the trophy was bestowed upon her Cats co-star Rebel Wilson.

Dench’s other Cats co-star Idris Elba is also one of the most high-profile stars to test positive for coronavirus.

Seth Rogen additionally spent one of his first nights of self-isolation “getting stoned” and watching Cats for the first time.

Live-tweeting the experience, he wrote of the film’s cast: “Judi Dench looks the most cuddly.”

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