The divine Dame Judi turns in another Oscar-buzzing performance in "Mrs. Henderson Presents." She spoke with NEWSWEEK's Nicki Gostin.

You play a widow and you lost your husband recently. Could you relate?

Well, in that you know if that is what's happening to the character you're playing, then I understood. But I don't want to make her like me.

What did you do after your husband died?

I worked. A lot of people accused me of running away from something, but for me it wasn't like that.

How do you work?

I work entirely on instinct, nothing else. I'm a kind of animal. I'm not intellectual in any way. I never read plays; I just do them because someone asked me to. Tony Hopkins and I didn't know how "Antony and Cleopatra" ended during our first read-through.

Isn't that a bit naughty?

Not naughty. Dangerous. I've gotten myself into real trouble by saying yes to a play, then going to the first reading and realizing, "This is a bummer!"

You started making films quite late in your career.

The reason why I never made films earlier was because my face wasn't right for film and I was told that. I was hurt, but now that I've become older, it's become more acceptable.

There's some nudity in the movie. Would you be nude in a movie?

I've been nude in two things.

Would you do it now?

Well, not unless I want to frighten the horses.

Bob Hoskins is briefly in the nude. Did you sneak a peek?

Of course! Don't think I'm going to let Bob Hoskins take all his clothes off and me not take a look? I just had a quick look up and down, like you would.

Look Out, Thugs. Mighty Mira's on Patrol. When Mira Sorvino played a hooker in "Mighty Aphrodite," she got an Oscar. Now her talent for being an upright citizen is getting recognized, too. Last week Sorvino was sworn in as an honorary deputy sheriff in Lackawanna County in Scranton, Pa. In fact, dad Paul has been a deputy there for years--he shot "That Championship Season" nearby--and Mira's been a junior deputy since she was 14, so perhaps we shouldn't take this whole thing too seriously. Though Mira certainly does. Asked whether she prizes her Oscar or her deputy's badge more, she replied, "That's a hard one. I'm not going to comment on that." Of course, this stunt could backfire. Won't there be a crime wave set off by men hoping to get patted down by Deputy Sorvino?

If 'Earl' Knocks Off 'CSI,' Who Will Do the Autopsy? One thing's been lost in the hoopla over NBC's moving "My Name is Earl" to must-flee--oops, must-see--Thursday this week. the offbeat sitcom will face tv's no. 1 show, "CSI." "I think we can handle it," says Jaime Pressly, who plays the badly coiffed, badly named Joy. "no one thought we could bring NBC back up to par, and we did. I'm just not worried about another show." You go, girl.