She has played Juliet, Queen Victoria, and the head of the British Secret Service, but Dame Judi Dench’s storied acting career is now sadly drawing to a close. In a joint interview with her lifelong friend, Sir Ian McKellen, she explained that at 90, she struggles to recognise people because of her progressive macular degeneration.
Age-related macular degeneration, which most commonly shows initial symptoms in people over 50, causes a progressive loss of eyesight in the centre of a person’s vision. The first symptom is often a blurred or distorted area, which grows progressively darker over time until the eyesight is completely lost.
Dame Judi first spoke of the issue in 2012, when she revealed that she required someone else to read scripts aloud to her, because of her declining eyesight.
She notably doesn’t like to name the condition, telling Sir Ian: “I can’t see anyone. I’ve got, you know, that thing. I can’t recognise anybody. I can’t see the television, I can’t see to read.”
She joked that people see her as haughty, because she does’t acknowledge them, while the simple fact is she can’t actually see them. She told ITV News: “People think, ‘Oh, get her. She’s got very grand.’ It’s because I can’t see!”
When asked by Sir Ian if she ever finds herself going up to “total strangers” and saying “lovely to see you again”, Dame Judi chuckled before admitting that this is « sometimes » the case.
She sadly shared that she can no longer go anywhere alone, telling podcaster Trinny Woodall: “I have to [have someone with me now] because I can’t see and I’ll walk into something and fall over.”
The acting legend added that losing her independence was “ghastly,” saying: “It’s terrible to be so dependent on people. »
The star, who has won an Oscar, a Tony, two Golden Globes, four BAFTA television awards, six BAFTA film awards and seven Oliviers in her 68-year professional career, replied bluntly to a question about any future theatre work, simply saying “no ».
She has also drawn a line underneath any potential film work in the future. After being asked in 2024 if she had plans for future roles, she sadly responded: “No, no, I can’t even see!”
However, there are always possibilities. This Christmas, Dame Judi is featuring in a TV ad for disaster relief charity ShelterBox, in which she is seen regifting a red lacy thong to friend, and fellow actress, Dame Imelda Staunton.
She’s also reuniting with Sir Ian, with whom she starred in what some regard as the greatest ever production of Shakespeare’s Macbeth, some 50 years ago, in order to promote a new initiative helping bring the playwright’s work to a younger generation.
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