Judi Dench Dench commented that the project launched her Hollywood career and joked that "it was thanks to Harvey, whose name I have had tattooed on my bum". Dench's other film of 1997 was Roger Spottiswoode's "Tomorrow Never Dies", her second film in the "James Bond" series. The same year, Dench reteamed with director John Madden to film "Shakespeare in Love" (1998), a romantic comedy-drama that depicts a love affair involving playwright William Shakespeare, played by Joseph Fiennes, while he was writing the play "Romeo and Juliet". On her performance as Queen Elizabeth I, "The New York Times" commented that "Dench's shrewd,
Shakespeare Theatre Company Anthony Hopkins 2001 – Ralph Fiennes 2002 – Michael Kahn 2003 – Fiona Shaw 2004 – Dame Judi Dench 2005 – Jeremy Irons 2006 – Kevin Spacey 2007 – The Shakespeare Theatre Company’s Acting Company 2008 – Rennie Harris, Peter Martins and Chita Rivera 2009 – Sir Ian McKellen 2010 – Annette Bening 2011 – Michael Kahn in honor of his 25th Anniversary as Artistic Director 2012 - F. Murray Abraham 2013 - Elizabeth McGovern 2014 - John Hurt, Stacy Keach and Diana Rigg 2015 - Julie Taymor 2016 - Charles Dance 2017 - Laura Linney The Emery Battis Award