Dame Judi Dench Refuses To Retire Despite Not Being Able To See

Despite revealing that she cannot see on set anymore to read scripts, Dame Judi Dench is refusing to retire due to her love of acting. 

The actress has advanced macular degeneration, which causes blurred vision, making it difficult for her to read her scripts. She has been able to overcome this by employing the help of her friends, who aid her in learning her lines. In addition to this, she also says that her photographic memory is extremely helpful as well. 

“I can’t see on a film set anymore,” she said in an interview with the U.K.’s Sunday Mirror. “And I can’t see to read. But you just deal with it.”

She was diagnosed back in 2012 and had to stop driving as it became a hazard when her eyesight deteriorated. “I just know I’ll kill somebody if I get behind the wheel of a car now,” she said.

She has admitted that her condition has worsened over the past few years and that she even had to have her boyfriend, David Mills, cut her food for her because she wasn’t able to see it.

Dench does not plan on giving up acting any time soon as says she plans on working “as much as I can.” So far, she has been successful as in recent years, she starred in the films Cats, Blithe Spirit and Belfast, which she received an Oscar nomination for. 

Dench has been acting for 66 years since her debut on stage in 1957. Her first film was The Third Secret in 1964. She is best known for acting in the films Murder on the Orient Express, Casino Royale, Skyfall, Quantum of Solace and Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children. 

The actress has been nominated for 184 various awards and won 70 of those. This includes one Acadamy Award, 11 BAFTA Awards, two Screen Actors Guild Awards and two Golden Globe Awards.