Judi Dench urges fans to ‘just keep laughing’ through coronavirus crisis in sweet video

Dench's daughter Finty Williams shared the clip on Twitter
The Weekender

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Dame Judi Dench has told people to “just keep laughing” in the face of the coronavirus crisis in a heartwarming Twitter video.

Dench’s daughter Finty Williams shared a short clip of the actress on social media, showing the legendary actress, 85, wearing a dog-shaped hat.

As Dench said “Oh, there you are!” to the camera, the ears on her hat moved upwards.

She added: “Just keep laughing, that’s all we can do.”

Williams captioned her post: "Message from ma."

Earlier this week, the Oscar winner starred in a special handwashing tutorial which made a tongue-in-cheek nod to her recent role in the critically derided film adaptation of Cats.

Dame Judi Dench - In pictures

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In the video shared on Twitter, Dench stood in a kitchen with her friend and fellow actor Gyles Brandreth as they lathered up their hands in accordance with government advice to limit the spread of the Covid-19 virus.

Turning to the camera, the pair then took it in turns to recite the opening verses of Edward Lear’s nonsense poem The Owl And The Pussy-Cat.

As Brandreth reached the line “What a beautiful pussy you are,” Dench began to purr in a bizarre nod to her turn as Old Deuteronomy in Tom Hooper’s film.

Brandreth then added: “Wash your hands thoroughly for at least 20 seconds and you too will get the purr of satisfaction. A purr and good health too.”

The duo then turned back to the sink to rinse their hands.

Captioning the video, Brandreth wrote: “A Public Service Poem - from Judi Dench & Gyles Brandreth.”

Dench recently confirmed that she is yet to watch Hooper’s film version of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical.

“No, I haven’t seen it,” she told BBC Radio 4’s Front Row earlier this month.

“I didn’t read anything about the response to it nor have I seen it, and I’ve only seen a picture of myself.”

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