# Judi Dench Tells All About Bond: It Was Daniel Craig’s Idea to ‘Have Me Killed’

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/judi-dench-tells-all-about-bond-it-was-daniel-craigs-idea-to-have-me-killed/
- Published: 2026-11-03T13:00:00+00:00
- Updated: 2026-11-04T01:20:50+00:00
- Original publisher: Variety
- Original article: https://variety.com/2026/film/news/judi-dench-james-bond-daniel-craig-memoir-m-death-1236937772/
- Topics: Art, Business, Culture, Fitness, Geopolitics, Health, Markets, Politics

## Key points

- Daniel Craig proposed M’s death in “Skyfall”.
- Dench played M in eight Bond films.
- She says last-minute rewrites made one film challenging.

## Summary

Judi Dench says Daniel Craig suggested killing off her character, M, in “Skyfall”. In an excerpt from her new memoir, she reflects on playing the head of MI6 across eight James Bond films, describing the role as a chance to exercise authority in a male-dominated world.

Dench says she built a backstory for M, whose life details emerged across the films, including her marriage, widowhood and the name Olivia Mansfield. She enjoyed working with the Bond producers and some directors, but found “Tomorrow Never Dies” difficult because of frequent last-minute script rewrites. M died in “Skyfall” in 2012, with Dench later making a brief appearance in “Spectre”.

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