Judi Dench Has a Tattoo of What…?! And Where?!

Look, if anyone can get away with having a wacky tattoo on their rear end, it’s Dame Judi Dench, although she’s probably the last person you’d expect to have a tattoo of anything anywhere—which is what makes this interesting anecdote from Hollywood heavy-hitter Harvey Weinstein even more amazing.

Older people have tattoos, too, you know. Rumor has it (with some pretty solid evidence) that Dolly Parton has a whole bunch of secret tattoos. Dolly! Of all people! But like Dolly, seven-time Oscar nominee Dame Judi Dench is not someone you’d expect to have a tattoo hidden on her person. Even Helen Mirren seems more likely to have a tattoo or two than Dench. Of course, because we’d hardly expect someone who seems as proper as Dench to have a tattoo, that’s exactly what makes it so delightful. Well, and then there’s the revelation of what she has tattooed and where.

In the above interview on the Graham Norton Show (via Vulture), film exec Harvey Weinstein recounts how he took a British television actress named Judi Dench and helped launch her wildly successful film career by casting her as Queen Victoria in ‘Mrs. Brown,’ earning her the first of seven Oscar nominations. In order to express her gratitude to Weinstein, Dench decided to get a tattoo in his honor…on her butt. The tattoo says “JD Loves HW,” and she showed it to Weinstein at the Four Seasons Grill. If anyone else did that, it would be totally trashy. But this is Dame Judi Dench, so even the idea of her showing Weinstein a tattoo with his initials on her rear end in the middle of a swanky restaurant seems pretty damn classy.

Oh, and Weinstein isn’t the only one who’s been privileged enough to see this tattoo—Dench also showed it to Oprah at last year’s BAFTAS. I would love to have seen the delightfully surprised look on Oprah’s face when she saw Dench’s butt-tat.