Judi Dench Says She Saw a Ghost at London's Haymarket Theatre: 'I Saw Somebody Wearing Top Hat and Tails'

"I thought, 'What a funny getup!'" she recalled of the apparent sighting

Judi Dench is telling ghost stories.

In a new interview with the Sunday Times, the Oscar-winning actress, 88, revealed that she once saw a ghost at London's historic Haymarket Theatre while attending a memorial service for actor Michael Denison, who died in 1998.

"It was in the afternoon! I saw somebody wearing top hat and tails running down the stairs and I thought, 'What a funny getup!' " she recalled of the apparent sighting.

Actor Brendan O'Hea — with whom she co-wrote her upcoming book Shakespeare: The Man Who Pays the Rent about her experiences doing theater — backed up her supernatural tale, saying he knows someone else who also claims to have seen the infamous "Haymarket Ghost."

He explained to the outlet that an actress told him about a man who kept entering through a theater door — only, as someone pointed out, "There is no door."

Related: Dame Judi Dench Turns 88! Celebrate with These Glamorous Throwback Photos

Upon reflection, Dench acknowledged that perhaps she had not seen an apparition. “It may not have been a ghost,” she told the outlet. “But I like the thought of them. Why on earth shouldn’t it happen?”

Dench also shared memories and anecdotes from her many star turns on the stage, portraying Shakespeare's iconic characters including Juliet from Romeo and Juliet.

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She recalled a time when her corset was laced so tightly that she fainted in the heat and another memorable performance in London when she dropped a cheeky note into the lap of a man seated in the audience who she thought was a friend of hers.

"I suppose a f---'s out of the question?" the note said. As it turned out, the man was a complete stranger.

Related: Judi Dench Says 'It's Become Impossible' to Act amid Eyesight Loss: 'I Have a Photographic Memory'

Earlier this year, Dench opened up about a degenerative eye condition that is impacting her sight and making it difficult for her to read scripts and memorize her lines for acting roles.

"It has become impossible and because I have a photographic memory, I need to find a machine that not only teaches me my lines but also tells me where they appear on the page," the Belfast star said during a February appearance on The Graham Norton Show.

"I used to find it very easy to learn lines and remember them. I could do the whole of Twelfth Night right now."

She previously spoke about her eye condition, which is caused by age-related macular degeneration, in 2021, saying she's had to adapt and find new ways of doing things.

"You find a way of just getting about and getting over the things that you find very difficult," Dench said at a 2021 event to benefit the Vision Foundation, The Guardian reported at the time. "I've had to find another way of learning lines and things, which is having great friends of mine repeat them to me over and over and over again. So I have to learn through repetition, and I just hope that people won't notice too much if all the lines are completely hopeless!"

In light of her eyesight difficulties, Dench told the Sunday Times she feels particularly grateful to have been able to finish a book — with O'Hea's help. “How lucky I am,” she said of the tome, which is slated for U.S. publication in April 2024.

“I can’t see, but I have a book coming out, thanks to Brendan’s eyes and idea.”

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