Judi Dench once gave the 'kiss of life' to a surprising creature

While talking to Chris Evans on a podcast she revealed a surprising fact. Photo / file

Dame Judi Dench once gave her goldfish the "kiss of life".

The "Skyfall" star has recalled how she once saved her pet fish when it was young.

Speaking on Chris Evans' How To Wow podcast, she said: "My goldfish recently died. I once gave it the kiss of life. It died when it was very little and I gave it the kiss of life and it grew to be six inches long. We kept it in a nice tank."

Meanwhile, the 85-year-old actress previously admitted she "loathes" being a national treasure as she feels it sounds like "something very, very dusty, behind a glass".

Asked if she feels pressure as a national treasure, she said "No, no, no. I loathe that word ... It's something very, very dusty, behind a glass, in a corner. I don't want to be a relic ... You know, you just get on with life, don't you?

"And hope that the job you've chosen to do you do as well as you can. That's all you worry about. And be kind to people. That's what's so wonderful about this lockdown... is people's amazing kindness. The general public are very, very kind. And to each other."

The "Cats" star started her career as a stage actress and never thought she'd move onto films as she was told she "didn't have the face" for movies.

"I never wanted to make a film at all, ever, and was told I wouldn't because I had the wrong kind of face to make films ... That was when I was at The Vic," she said.

"I only ever wanted to do Shakespeare and be in the theatre. That's all, except that I trained as a theatre designer before that. That's what I originally wanted to be. I think there's no substitute for the theatre. When you've done a film, that's it.

"You can't change it. Then you go to see it and you're irritated intensely about the fact of the buttons that you chose to push to do that part.

"And you think 'Oh, what a chance missed.' ... But in the theatre, you can go on until you get it right, sometimes, if you're lucky."