Dame Judi Dench, 88, says she refuses to stop acting despite not being able to read scripts
Dame Judi Dench has revealed that she can no longer look on film sets and read scripts.
The actress, 88, who is known for starring in many major films, including the Bond franchise, suffers from advanced macular degeneration.
She revealed that her friends help her learn rules instead and that she has a photographic memory.
Despite her deteriorating eyesight, the Academy Award winner says she refuses to give up and wants to work “as much as I can.”
The actress told The Mirror’s Notebook magazine: ‘I mean, I can’t watch on a movie set anymore. And I can’t see to read. So I can’t see much.
‘I can’t watch on a movie set anymore’: Dame Judi Dench revealed this week that she refuses to retire despite being unable to read or write due to advanced macular degeneration
“But you know, you just deal with it. Continue.’
She added, “It’s hard for me when I have any length of a role. I haven’t found a way yet. Because I have so many friends who will teach me the script. But I have a photographic memory.’
Judi was diagnosed with age-related macular degeneration (AMD) in 2012 and had to stop driving a few years ago when her eyesight began to deteriorate.
This is not the first time the actress has spoken out about her health condition. Last year she appeared on BBC’s Louis Theroux and admitted that ‘it sucks’.
She told the broadcaster: ‘I don’t want to retire. I’m not doing much right now because I can’t see. It’s bad’.
Judi also revealed that while eating with her partner David Mills, he had to cut her food for her because she couldn’t see it on her plate.
“He cut it up and gave me something on a fork and that’s how I ate it,” she explained.
With more than 60 years in the business, Dame Judi made her first professional stage appearance in 1957 and her film debut was in 1964 for The Third Secret.
Legend: With over 60 years in the business, Dame Judi is a star on stage and screen. here she plays Juliet in Romeo and Juliet at The Old Vic Theatre, London (pictured here in 1960)
Movie queen: Dame Judi won an Academy Award for Best Actress and appeared as the oldest person ever to cover Vogue (pictured here on ITV’s A Fine Romance in 1981)
Candid: The actress, 88, spoke candidly about her health struggles last year when she appeared on the BBC’s Louis Theroux show, where she admitted she had poor eyesight
Since then she has appeared in Philomena and Shakespeare in Love – to name a few, and for her last role she won an Academy Award in 1998.
Judi is also known for playing M, the head of MI6, alongside Daniel Craig’s Bond.
The British star has also had success on stage, winning a Tony award in 1999 for Amy’s View as well as a string of Olivier awards.
Four years ago, she became the oldest woman to ever cover for British Vogue in its 104-year history — a feat she’s still going strong at.