Judi Dench's 'Naughty' Side Made Her Rosamund Pike's Favourite Co-Star

Rosamund Pike has named Dame Judi Dench as her favourite female co-star.

The two British stars previously shared the screen in the 2005 film adaptation of Pride & Prejudice, as well as the James Bond movie Die Another Day and a 2009 stage revival of Madame De Sade.

Over the course of their numerous collaborations, Rosamund told Radio 2 that she discovered the Oscar winner is both a “delight” and a fan of creating her own fun behind the scenes.

“The best actress I’ve ever worked with is Judi Dench, who’s such a mischief maker,” the Gone Girl star enthused. “She’s so delightful. She’s so, so good.”

Rosamund added: “She’s just amazing and yet, when you’re doing a play with her, she’s so funny, she’s so naughty. Off stage, she’s completely out of character, laughing, playing a practical joke, and then she walks on and it’s all there.”

Dame Judi’s off-stage naughtiness is well-documented, whether she’s surprising her James Bond co-star with a naked FaceTime (accidentally, we should add) or marking her 81st birthday by getting her first tattoo.

Meanwhile, another of the former James Bond star’s co-stars can attest to her playfulness behind the scenes, with Lesley Manville once admitting to wetting herself while working with Dame Judi after she deliberately tried to make her laugh from the wings of the stage.

Elsewhere in her Radio 2 interview, Rosamund claimed that her favourite male co-star was Christian Bale, even if his Method acting technique meant she didn’t really get to know him very well.

“He’s another level,” the Saltburn actor said. “I can’t say I know him really, but it was just a pretty amazing experience to be around him in a film called Hostiles.

“But I don’t think I met Christian, I think I only met the character. He’s quite method. He’s very method.”