Dame Judith Dench Explains: 'Old Deuteronomy' is A Trans Cat!

The film adaptation of the Andrew Lloyd Webber stage musical "Cats" features an interesting gender reversal in that the most revered of the "Jellicle cats" gathered together for a mystical rite – Old Deuteronomy, a male in the stage show and in the 1939 book of poems by T.S. Eliot, "Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats," upon which the stage show is based – is female in the film version.

Those who are puzzled by this may find a solution in an insight offered by "Old Deuteronomy" actress Dame Judith Dench, who seems to have discovered in the course of playing the role that her character is, in fact, a transgender cat.

Dench, various media outlets note, was cast to play the dual role of Jennyanydots and Grizabella, two female cats, when the show was being readied for its inaugural West End production in London, in 1981. The highly regraded British actress was not able to follow through, recalled British newspaper The Sun, since a ruptured achilles tendon caused her to drop out of the project. The role of Old Deuteronomy in that production was played by another esteemed British thespian, Brian Blessed.

Dench referred back to that production in an interview, telling LGBTQ news source Out that she found being cast in the CGI-heavy film version to be a "glorious" experience before going on to add that playing Old Deuteronomy in the movie was "nerve wracking, because all I can hear is Brian Blessed all the time in the production that I wasn't able to be in."

The 85-year-old actor, whose professional career has spanned nearly seven decades, also spoke to the joys of being able to play a venerable character of Deuteronomy's years (each one of which is, of course, popularly thought to be the equivalent of about four years for a human). Said Dench: "...it was lovely to be led about and be and aged old cat. Very nice indeed," reported UK newspaper The Independent.

The Independent went on to say that some took Dench's insight to be nothing more than a witticism, while others took umbrage. A number of people took to social media to vent.

"Fuck all the way off," scrawled one Twitter user identified as "Marceline the Umpire Queen" @Ninbinary Prncss in response to Out Magazine's tweet, which was captioned "Visibility Matters."

"Jewish Citizen by Executive Order" @Djinnkitty, meantime, tweeted: "It's so wonderful to have a cis person let me know what representation they've decided they're going to do for me."

Judi Dench telling @rosedommu she's playing "trans Deuteronomy" is another reason we're here for #CatsTheMovie. Watch: https://t.co/uUAKZS0kQw– Out Magazine (@outmagazine) December 20, 2019

"Protect Trans People" also weighed in, opining, "the character doesn't appear to be trans, and this isn't the visibility we're asking for," while "Miss Goober" protested that "this is a real JKR move honestly, and I am Not here for it"