Many of us are still recovering from seeing Universal Pictures' Cats during its extremely brief and much buzzed-about (for some very wild reasons) theatrical run in December 2019. One person who has seemingly been spared the grief of knowing what Tom Hooper's Cats looks like on the big screen is one of its stars, Judi Dench.

Speaking to the BBC Radio 4's Front Row program recently, Dench included the wild revelation she had yet to see the frenetic feline fantasy writ large on the big screen: "I didn't read anything about the response to it, nor have I seen it." What must it be like to exist in a world where you don't know what effect Cats has had on the world despite having done the work and served as one of its stars? Consider me very envious of Dench. Understandably, Dench told Front Row she hasn't seen the film due to ongoing health issues with mascular degeneration.

Despite not seeing the film, Dench has seen a photo of herself as Jellicle tribe leader Old Deuteronomy. Prepare yourself because you're going to be absolutely gobsmacked at who she was reminded of when she saw it.  "I've only seen a picture of myself [from the film]," Dench told Front Row, going on to reveal, "I once had a cat [who looked] like that, called Carpet, and I didn't realize I was playing Carpet. I thought I was playing a kind of, you know, mangier cat who didn't have much fur. I didn't realize I was this wonderful show cat!"

Well, actually, before I go, might I interest you in the equally incredible quote Dench gave reacting to her Razzie nomination for Worst Supporting Actress (one of eight racked up by Cats)? When asked about the nom, Dench remarked, "Oh, am I? That would be good! As far as I know, that's a first!"

For more on the Cats fallout, check out our coverage of the extremely memorable Cats moment from the 2020 Oscars and get all 411 on the upcoming digital/Bluray/DVD release.