Dench 'better Queen Victoria than Queen Victoria would have been'

A poster of film "Victoria and Abdul" [Photo: mtime.com]

Judi Dench, who stars in "Victoria and Abdul," has been hailed as "a better Queen Victoria than Queen Victoria would have been."

Her co-star British actor Eddie Izzard, made the remarks at the Venice International Film Festival, where the film has been screened out of competition.

Izzard said Dench's ability to humanize the monarch makes her more relatable than the real Queen Victoria.

"Well because she can humanize it. Judi has the teenage girl in herself. She has control of that. She can access that. And if you look at Victoria maybe with John Brown, maybe with Abdul Karim, maybe that young girl came out, that very depressed and lonely young woman came out. But you never saw it. That would never be revealed but that's what Judi shows and that's beautiful."

Largely based on real events, the film tells the story of Queen Victoria and Abdul Karim, an Indian man who became her servant and teacher.

Actors Ali Fazal, left, and Judi Dench pose for photographers at the premiere of the film 'Victoria and Abdul' during the 74th edition of the Venice Film Festival in Venice, Italy, Sunday, Sept. 3, 2017. [Photo: AP/Joel Ryan]

This is Dench's second time playing the queen on screen, 20 years after her role in "Mrs. Brown" in 1997 – a performance which won Dench an Academy Award nomination.

This time, the 82-year-old actress shot on location in Osborne House on the Isle of Wight where Queen Victoria spent much of her time.

It was an experience Dench describes as "fantastically helpful."

"We were in the actual place, in her writing room looking out of the window at exactly what she would see. The trees, a hundred years, you know. Bit taller. And everything about it, the desk, everything was there. And that wonderful bit of carpet we weren't allowed to step on. Wonderful carpet. There's a blue line in it. I don't know why but we weren't allowed to step in that. That was quite comic. We got around it in the end. Yes, a little leap over. But it was fantastically helpful of course."

The film also marks the fifth time Dench and director Stephen Frears have worked together, which means they have a shorthand on set.

"Victoria and Abdul" will be released in the UK on September 15.