Oscars 2022: Belfast star Jude Hill says Judi Dench played whoopee cushion pranks on set

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Child actor Jude Hill has claimed that Judi Dench played “a lot” of pranks involving whoopee cushions on the set of Belfast.

The 11-year-old Irish star was interviewed on the red carpet ahead of the 94th Academy Awards ceremony in Los Angeles, Calfornia.

Presenter Laverne Cox said: “Now, I heard that your co-star, Dame Judi Dench, was quite the prankster on set. Can you tell us what pranks she played?”

“There were a lot of whoopee cushions, during scenes,” responded Hill. “That’s what I’m going to say.

“By the end of it, if someone sat down on a whoopee cushion, we all just turned heads to Judi Dench.”

Belfast, a black-and-white historical drama set in Northern Ireland in the 1960s, is a fictionalised account of the childhood of the film’s director, Kenneth Branagh.

The film was nominated for seven awards at the Oscars, including for Best Picture and Best Director, as well as a Best Actress nomination for Dench.

You can follow along with The Independent’s Oscars 2022 live blog here.

Or you can click here for a list of the nominees and winners, updated as the ceremony airs.