Judi Dench shared in her new memoir, "Is It Too Late to Make a Run for It?", that she was persuaded to join the cast of "The Chronicles of Riddick" by a massive floral gift from Vin Diesel. Dench noted that Diesel visited her at the Haymarket Theatre to request her participation in the project.
Before his arrival, Diesel sent Dench a bunch of flowers that were "easily the length of a kayak" and just as wide. The bouquet was so large that it could not be moved up the stairs to her dressing room, forcing the flowers to be left at the stage door. Dench joked that she is "cheap as chips" and "far too easily wooed," adding, "You can’t say no to a man like that, can you?"
Following the gesture, Dench took on the role of Aereon in the 2004 film, portraying the elemental ambassador who assists Diesel's character, Riddick, during his journey to rescue allies and face the Necromonger empire.
The memoir also reveals that Dench has been persuaded into roles by other gifts in the past. She recounted how Kenneth Branagh gave her a "most wonderful embroidered handkerchief" featuring the character's initials when asking her to appear in "Murder on the Orient Express." Dench described Branagh as "sneaky," suggesting he knew the gift would secure her agreement. She stated she would do anything for Branagh, even playing a mat on the floor in "Three Sisters."
Dench eventually joined the 2017 mystery-drama "Orient Express" after learning the cast included Olivia Colman, Penélope Cruz, Johnny Depp, and Derek Jacobi. However, she expressed mixed feelings about her own character, Princess Natalia Dragomiroff, describing her as "some old broad who sat around with a lot of jewelry and a couple of Shih Tzus — one black, one white."
