Award-winning English actress Judi Dench gave an emotional update on living with a degenerative eye condition during a recent interview, which led her to step away from on stage and screen roles.
During an interview with ITV News, the 90-year-old said she is unable to recognize people or fulfill common tasks due to age-related macular degeneration (AMD).
“You don’t [see me on camera], because I can’t see anymore,” Dench told the host. “I can’t recognize anybody now. … I can’t see the television. I can’t see to read.”
AMD is an damaging eye disease that causes loss of central vision or blindness, according to the Cleveland Clinic, which also says it is the leading cause of visual impairment in adults over the age of 50.
Risk factors include obesity, smoking, high blood pressure, or family history, and while not common, it can develop in younger age groups as well. As of 2019, nearly 20 million people in the U.S. were estimated to be living with some form of AMD, an increase from years prior, according to Prevent Blindness.
Dench, who was joined alongside her former “Macbeth” costar, Ian McKellen, for the interview, noted that even while sitting so close together she could only see his “outline” and recognize him because she “knows him so well.”
The “Skyfall” star first revealed her diagnosis back in 2012, with the condition worsening over the time. Earlier this year, she explained major adjustments she had to make in her daily life, adding that she is now reliant on others, especially when leaving the house.
“I have to now because I can’t see and I will walk into something or fall over,” she said during an appearance on the “Fearless” podcast. “I’m always nervous before going to something. I have no idea. … I’m not good [at being on my own] at all, nor would I be now.”
With more than 140 roles throughout film and television combined, Dench is a versatile performer who established a renowned career stemming from well-known theater productions.
Best known for her performances as Ophelia in “Hamlet,” Juliet in “Romeo and Juliet,” and Lady Macbeth in “Macbeth,” Dench achieved various accolades, including an Oscar for for “Shakespeare in Love” (1998). She is also a ten-time BAFTA winner.
Despite her passion for entertaining, Dench’s condition has prevented her from taking on any significant roles, but she remains determined to continue acting in a different way.
“You find a way of just getting about and getting over the things that you find very difficult,” Dench said during a 2021 online event for the Vision Foundation.
“I’ve had to find another way of learning lines and things, which is having great friends of mine repeat them to me over and over and over again. So I have to learn through repetition, and I just hope that people won’t notice too much if all the lines are completely hopeless!”
