Queen Elizabeth I is only featured in a small role in Shakespeare in Love, which largely revolves around the exploits of a young William Shakespeare and his muse. Nonetheless, it does an excellent job of capturing the iconic queen's no-nonsense personality of her later years. She is short, to-the-point, and regal -- she does not suffer fools or take kindly to those who are just trying to flatter her. Judi Dench embodies this queen, who was in a nearly impossible position as an unmarried female ruling a nation at a time when most queens ceded power to their husbands. Regardless of what her actual personality was like, she had to present a tough, almost masculine persona to make people believe that she was capable of doing the job. Her interactions with the main characters are brief but priceless, and Judi Dench wrings every bit of humor and poignancy out of the script.