Dame Judi Dench planned her knee surgery months in advance so she could walk the red carpet.

Judi Dench scheduled knee surgery on September 6 to take care of trouble she's had with her right knee for years. She planned it so she could make a movie opening.

The iconic British thespian, Judi Dench, said "You set your mind to a goal and go for it."

The 78-year-old Judi Dench said she told her doctor "On October 16 I will walk up a red carpet unaided" for the opening of her newest movie "Philomena."

Six weeks after her surgery, Judi Dench is walking without a cane. And she's even showing off her scar. She told The Daily Mirror, "The scar's from here to here, there to there. I have a completely new knee now. It's brilliant."

What isn't brilliant, to the grand Dame Judi Dench, is 80.  Drench warns "Don't say 'old', don't say 'retired', don't say '80'. I'm not even considering retiring. We are in the minority of people who are doing a job we chose to do and can make a living at. Why aren't we running to work every day? I'm not feeling my age at all. I am about 43, a tall willowy blonde 43-year-old with long legs." She continues, "I don't want to slow down at all. We don't say the word retirement in our house. Old and retired are totally banned. Energy keeps me going."