In January 2001 , Dench 's husband Michael Williams died of lung cancer . Dench went to Nova Scotia , Canada , almost immediately after Williams 's funeral to begin production on Lasse Hallström 's drama film '' The Shipping News '' , a therapy she later credited as her rescue : " People , friends , kept saying , ' You are not facing up to it ; you need to face up to it ' , and maybe they were right , but I felt I was – in the acting . Grief supplies you with an enormous amount of energy . I needed to use that up . " In between , Dench finished work on Richard Eyre 's film '' Iris '' ( 2001 ) , in which she portrayed novelist Iris Murdoch . Dench shared her role with Kate Winslet , both actresses portraying Murdoch at different phases of her life . Each of them was nominated for an Oscar the following year , earning Dench her fourth nomination in five years . In addition , she was awarded both an ALFS Award and the Best Leading Actress Award at the 55th British Academy Film Awards
55th British Academy Film Awards
55th British Academy Film Awards
Judi Dench