The NEW YORK TIMES has a daily column on page 3 called Spotlight. It is not to be confused with the BOSTON GLOBE Spotlight series. The GLOBE’s Spotlight is serious investigative reporting.

The TIMES Spotlight is sometimes serious yet sometimes lighthearted. It is described as “additional reporting and repartee from our journalists.” It is based on email exchanges, water cooler talk or even Twitter chat between a TIMES journalist and a person of interest to a topic.

Back on Sept. 28 TIMES culture writer Logan Hill had an exchange with Judi Dench as part of his coverage of her new movie VICTORIA AND ABDUL. He asked her to describe her first acting experience.

She said when she was five years old she was cast as a snail in a school play. She was supposed to crawl across the stage. But when she saw her parents in the audience she stood up and waved. She was convinced her acting career was over.