Judi Dench says it was Daniel Craig's idea to off M

In an excerpt released by Variety, Dench described the evening she learned her character, M, would finally emerge from behind her desk in an action sequence that led to her demise at the end of the 2012 film Skyfall. “I was taken to the Wolseley restaurant by Barbara, Michael and Sam [Mendes, the director]—I don’t think Daniel Craig was there—and they outlined the plot and told me they were going to bump me off,” Dench said. “My own fault, I suppose.” Dench expressed her previous eagerness to enjoy some of the perks of being in the globe-spanning spy franchise, namely visiting its glamorous destinations while performing bureaucratic spycraft. “Ever since GoldenEye, when the entire film unit went off to Monte Carlo and St. Petersburg and I only had three days in Watford, I’d been begging them to let me out from behind my desk,” she laughed. “Well, they did finally let me out from behind my desk… and they shot me.”

Still, Dame Judi would like everyone to know that, despite the abrupt end to her time on the 007 series, she didn’t shed a single tear when she heard the news, even if, allegedly, it was Skyfall‘s lead who suggested it was time she depart. “Apparently, it was Daniel’s idea to have me killed. But first I had to suffer the indignity of being sacked by Ralph Fiennes. Arsehole,” Dench deadpanned. “It was reported in the press that I’d cried when they told me I was being replaced. Of course I didn’t cry. Why on earth would I cry after twenty glorious years and eight Bond films – which, by the way, is one more than Roger Moore, the longest-running 007 to date.” Still, while the actor remains proud of her time with Bond, Dench isn’t a fan of her final bow as M during a brief sequence in the follow-up to Skyfall, Spectre. “I [did] a tiny [cameo where] I had to appear on a television screen, which took me no more than an hour to shoot. But because they killed me off, I’m still sulking,” she laughed. “So I’ve never seen the film.”