Kenneth Branagh reveals Judi Dench exposed herself to him in dressing room

Kenneth Branagh has revealed that Judi Dench exposed herself to him when they met backstage to discuss their new film.

Appearing on The Graham Norton Show alongside Dench to discuss Murder on the Orient Express, Branagh recalled pitching the project (which he directs and stars in) to her while she was appearing in a play.

Despite their 30-year friendship, he revealed that he didn't quite expect to then receive an eyeful, reports Telegraph UK.

"She was the first person I asked to be on the train and she very kindly said yes before I had finished the sentence," Branagh said.

"It was very thrilling because it made a big difference to getting everyone else."

"I went into her dressing room one night and she was sitting in her dressing gown. We are excitedly talking about the film... when we get the call to go on stage. We are still chatting in the wings and with 30 seconds to go she throws off her dressing gown and there is nothing on below the waist!"

"I had the briefest of looks," he remembered, "but I can confirm, like the song, 'there is nothing like a dame!'"

Left to right: Daisy Ridley, Olivia Colman and Judi Dench star in Twentieth Century Fox's "Murder on the Orient Express." Photo / Supplied

Speaking on the red carpet for Murder on the Orient Express, Dench herself waded into the ongoing saga of sexual harassment allegations in the film industry.

"It is scandalous but it's very hard when a lot of people concerned are great friends of yours," she said.

"I feel loyal to them and at the same time I feel appalled by what has happened to a lot of young actresses who had no way of getting out."

Dench won an Oscar in 1999 for Shakespeare in Love, produced by Harvey Weinstein, and has appeared in several Weinstein productions, among them Nine, Tulip Fever and the Kevin Spacey vehicle The Shipping News.

She has also previously claimed to have at one point stamped a temporary tattoo on her rear end reading "JD Loves HW" in tribute to their friendship.