Dame Judi Dench has acknowledged that her failing eyesight prevents her from seeing on movie sets, but she still intends to work “as much as I can.”
The 88-year-old Oscar-winning actress recently disclosed she suffers from macular degeneration, which results in a progressive loss of eyesight.
She has discovered a different approach to learn scripts, like having friends teach her the lines, so she hasn’t let it stop her from working.
The seasoned actress demonstrated her no-nonsense demeanour as she said in a recent interview:
‘I mean, I can’t see on a film set any more, and I can’t see to read, so I can’t see much. But, you know, you just deal with it. Get on.’
Discussing how that affected her acting, she added to The Mirror’s Notebook magazine: ‘It’s difficult for me if I have any length of a part. I haven’t yet found a way. Because I have so many friends who will teach me the script. But I have a photographic memory.’
Despite the challenges brought on by her ailment, which she was diagnosed with in 2012, Dame Judi stated she intends to work “as much as I can.”
According to the NHS website, age-related macular degeneration, which impairs the centre of a person’s vision, is prevalent in people in their 50s and 60s.
Although it does not result in absolute blindness, it can make daily tasks like reading and facial recognition challenging.
Dame Judi has revealed her need to get a device to assist her in reading scripts.
‘It has become impossible and because I have a photographic memory, I need to find a machine that not only teaches me my lines but also tells me where they appear on the page,’ she revealed during an appearance on The Graham Norton Show in February.
‘I used to find it very easy to learn lines and remember them. I could do the whole of Twelfth Night right now,’ she remarked (and wouldn’t we love to hear that!).
The actor has enjoyed considerable success on stage, taking home a Tony Award for Amy’s View in 1999 and several Olivier Awards over the years.
She also has a significant number of acting credits in both film and television, notably the Oscar-winning part she played in Shakespeare in Love in 1998 and her stint as the head of MI6 when James Bond was played by Pierce Brosnan and Daniel Craig, respectively.
The actress has continued to appear in films recently, including the Oscar-winning British film Belfast from 2021 and the March release of Allelujah, which was based on the 2018 play by Alan Bennett of the same name.
After her husband, Michael Williams, passed away in 2001 from lung cancer, Dame Judi said she felt “fortunate” to have found a new companion in David Mills. She generally keeps her private life private.
She confessed that she ‘never expected, not for a minute, that there would be anybody else in my life after Michael died’, as she revealed it was ‘very unexpected to have somebody new who is as caring as my partner, David’.
‘Someone to be able to share things with… I feel very lucky indeed. And to laugh with somebody is terribly important! Laughing is the most important thing. We laugh about everything,’ she added.
Source My Celebrity Life.
