Judi Dench Says She Couldn T Say No to Queen Victoria, Jamie Foxx Talks About the Perils

Judi Dench says she couldn’t say no to Queen Victoria, Jamie Foxx talks about the perils of dating, Kirsten Wiig says she had no worries about going back to Despicable Me, Steve Carell reveals his children chose the voice of Felonious Gru and Haim perform live in the studio

On tonight’s show (Friday 23rd June) Graham welcomes acting royalty Dame Judi Dench, Oscar-winning actor Jamie Foxx, comic actors Kristen Wiig and Steve Carell, and American rock band Haim.

Dame Judi, who says she didn’t know anything about the real story behind her new film, Victoria and Abdul before accepting the role, says, “Diaries and letters have recently come to light. Abdul came to The Queen’s Diamond jubilee to present her with a coin. But, having seen him she wasn’t so interested in the coin!” Asked what she thinks about Queen Victoria’s keen interest in men well into old age, Judi says, “She was a goer and I am full of admiration!”

Asked if she was hesitant to go back to the role of Queen Victoria, having famously played her in Mrs Brown, she says, “You never think you’re going to go back to revisit a character you played so long ago, but because I didn’t know about the story, because it was so beautifully written and directed, and because it was a part I had done all the homework on, it was irresistible, I couldn’t have said no.”

Talking about Tracey Ullman’s uncanny impersonation of her, Judi says, “I think she is brilliant but she has got me into a lot of trouble. I was at a farm shop with a big bag over my shoulder the other day and I was having a look at all the stuff for sale when the salesman said, ‘Watch it!’ implying I was about to steal something!”

Jamie, talking about his new movie Baby Driver and the attention it is receiving, he says, “It is amazing and crazy that everyone is talking about it.” Adding jokingly, “I don’t normally buy into what the critics say but this time they are 100% right!”

Asked about his love life, he says, “It’s tough out there. I am getting older but people think I am younger. I was at a club the other night and a group of girls shouted my name. I was like, ‘Hey, what’s up?” and they said, ‘We go to school with your daughter!’ You have to be so careful. When I was asked the other day by a 20 something girl how old I was she looked at me as though 49 was a terminal disease!”

Talking about his youngest daughter and her love of celebrity, he says, “She loves all that Hollywood stuff. Someone gave me a convertible Rolls Royce to drive and she loved it with the roof down driving down Sunset Boulevard. When we got near Soho House I said, ‘We’ve got to put the roof up because it looks terrible arriving like this.’ And, just as I put up the roof up she shouted out, ‘Jamie Foxx is in the House!”

Steve interjects, “Almost the exact opposite happened to me. We were in LA driving to an event and we spotted one of the tour buses that go around pointing out who lives where and my wife thought it would be funny if I wound down the window and said hi to the tourists. I reluctantly did and nothing! No one recognised me! It was shameful.”

Talking about the initial reaction to his film The 40 Year Old Virgin, he says, “Nobody got it – you could see people rolling their eyes when I told them what I was doing it. Even the studio didn’t like it. They had been watching the daily footage and wanted to shut us down during the first week because they said I looked like an insane serial killer!”

Asked about what happens in their new movie, Despicable Me 3 Kristen says, “It’s a mixed bag.” Steve adds, “There are a lot of plots going on.”

Revealing where he gets his voices from, he jokes, “I just listen to the voices in my head!” Adding, “My children are responsible for Felonious Gru’s voice. I tried about a few on my kids and that was the one that made them laugh.”

Judi interjects, “I once provided the voice of a cow in Home of the Range and we were at the Oscars where there were a lot of protests about Brokeback Mountain and as we pulled up in the car a very angry man with a placard shouted at as, ‘Homos on the Range!’ I thought, ‘Why are you so angry? My film is only about cows!”

Kristen, talking about her character in the film and asked if she is anything like Lucy Wilde, she says, “She’s a lot more caffeinated than me.” And asked if she was worried about making the third Despicable Me film, she says, “We had no worries because we have the most unbelievably good filmmakers. We are very lucky.”

Haim perform Want You Back live in the studio before joining Graham for a chat about their album and performing at Glastonbury.

And finally, Graham pulls the lever on more foolhardy audience members brave enough to sit in the Big Red Chair.

The Graham Norton Show, BBC One, 23rd June 10.35pm.

Pictures are available from PA Notes to editors – all quotes in this release were said during the recording but won’t necessarily appear in the final show.

Next week (30th June) Graham introduced a compilation show featuring some of his favourite guests of the last series, including Morgan Freeman, Sir Michael Caine, Diane Keaton, Warren Beatty, Goldie Hawn, Sir Patrick Stewart, Nicole Kidman, Mark Whalburg, Salma Hayek, Zac Efron, Rachel Weisz, Michael Fassbender, Hugh Jackman, Sir Ian McKellen, Tom Cruise and Dame Judi Dench.

For further information please contact Mary Collins 07769 670516 or at [email protected]

23rd June 2017