# Judi Dench Says Vin Diesel Sent Her Flowers ‘the Length of a Kayak’ to Persuade Her to Join ‘The Chronicles of Riddick’: I’m ‘Far Too Easily Wooed’

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/judi-dench-says-vin-diesel-sent-her-flowers-the-length-of-a-kayak-to-persuade-her-to-join-the-chronicles-of-riddick-im-far-too-easily-wooed/
- Published: 2026-11-08T18:08:07+00:00
- Updated: 2026-11-08T18:23:38+00:00
- Original publisher: Variety
- Original article: https://variety.com/2026/film/news/judi-dench-reveals-she-was-wooed-1236942417/
- Topics: Film

## Key points

- Vin Diesel sent Judi Dench a kayak-sized bouquet.
- The gesture helped persuade her to join *The Chronicles of Riddick*.
- Dench also recalled Kenneth Branagh’s thoughtful gift.

## Summary

Judi Dench says Vin Diesel persuaded her to join 2004’s *The Chronicles of Riddick* by sending an enormous bouquet of flowers before visiting her at the Haymarket Theatre. She recalled that the flowers were too large to carry up to her dressing room and joked that she was “far too easily wooed”.

Dench played Aereon, an ambassador who guides Diesel’s character through the film’s conflict. She also described being won over by Kenneth Branagh’s embroidered handkerchief when he invited her to *Murder on the Orient Express*, where she played Princess Natalia Dragomiroff in the 2017 film.

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.