Judi Dench slams Cats movie fiasco: “What a waste of all that goodwill and talent”

In her forthcoming memoir Is It Too Late to Make a Run for It?, Judi Dench doesn’t dance around how she feels about making Cats. Reflecting on the movie ’s rocky rollout — and on how long Andrew Lloyd Webber had hoped to see a film version — she writes:

Oh God, I can’t bear it – and [Lloyd Webber] had waited so long for it to be made. What a waste of all that goodwill and talent.

Dench also acknowledges she hasn’t actually watched the finished cut, saying she can’t judge the final product firsthand. At the same time, she defends the work that goes into any production, adding:

It’s a miracle that anything is ever made – films, plays, TV – let alone turn out to be a success.

Tom Hooper’s 2019 adaptation of the stage smash leaned hard on CGI “digital fur,” a choice that quickly became the headline. Dench played Old Deuteronomy in a cast stacked with pop stars and movie names, including:

• Taylor Swift — Bombalurina
• Idris Elba — Macavity
• Jennifer Hudson — Grizabella
• James Corden — Bustopher Jones

On trigger warnings

Dench also uses the book to weigh in on content advisories for stage and screen. Speaking to Brendan O’Hea for the memoir, she argues that modern trigger warnings can over-explain what audiences are about to see.

I think they have gone too far. It’s mollycoddling. If you’re that sensitive, don’t go to the theater.

While noting that advisories can help some viewers prepare for difficult material, she says there should be limits on how much a production reveals in advance — comments she makes as part of her wider conversation with O’Hea in Is It Too Late to Make a Run for It?