Judi Dench loses her sight: “I can’t see anything on film sets anymore”

“I can’t read either, but I have to deal with it,” regrets the actress from Philomena.

At 88, Lady Judi Dench has suffered for ten years from AMD, a loss of central vision. A disorder that affects many elderly people, and which she speaks about publicly, while it increasingly complicates her acting profession. If it does not cause total blindness, it gradually prevents reading or driving, small spots appearing on the retina in the center of the eye.

“I don’t see anything on the film sets anymore, confided the actress Philomena To The Mirror. I can’t read either, so no, I really don’t see much anymore, but I have to deal with it. Go forward. It’s hard for me to learn long monologues now. I haven’t found a good technique yet, even if friends are willing to help me remember my text, it’s complicated because I have a photographic memory.”

Judi Dench was diagnosed with the disease in 2012, when Indian Palace was released in theaters.

Invited to Graham Norton Show at the start of the year, the ex-interpreter of M in james bond had already mentioned this health concern: “Over time, that became impossible for me, because because of my photographic memory, I would need a machine that could teach me my lines of dialogue while showing where precisely they appear on the page. I found that very easy before retaining texts, I could even quote you from head to toe Twelfth Night of William Shakespeare!”

In 2021, she already explained to the Guardian on this point : “You always end up finding a way around the difficulties. I had to imagine another way to learn my lines, with the help of my friends who repeat them to me over and over. I now remember thanks to repetition , so hopefully the public won’t notice too much.”

Despite this health concern, Judi Dench does not intend to retire. She was last year in Belfastby Kenneth Branagh, and will soon return to Hallelujah alongside Jennifer Saunders.

5 reasons to love Judi Dench