Dame Judi Dench had the most terrifying moment of her life while performing a musical number in Nine – because screen legend Sophia Loren was watching her sing.

The veteran star shows off her song and dance skills in director Rob Marshall’s movie musical, but she admits she was almost too starstruck to perform after spotting the Italian actress walking onto the set.

Dench recalls, “I’d never met her and she arrived on set just as I was about to perform my number. She sat and watched. I said to Rob, ‘I can’t have ever been more frightened than at this moment.’ It was like someone had given me an enormous injection. I suddenly had to be on the ball.”

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