Judi Dench Opens Up About Her Eye Condition and Its Impact on Recognition

Judi Dench in 2022.
Credit:

Karwai Tang/WireImage

NEED TO KNOW

• Judi Dench shared in a recent interview that she “can’t recognize anybody now” due to her eye condition.
• The 90-year-old actress stated, “I can’t see the television. I can’t see to read.”
• Dench first disclosed her diagnosis of age-related macular degeneration in 2012.

Dame Judi Dench has provided an update on her ongoing battle with macular degeneration, a degenerative eye condition affecting her vision.

At 90, Dench has faced increasing challenges with her eyesight, first revealing her diagnosis in 2012 amid public speculation. This condition, common among those over 50, leads to blurred or reduced central vision, according to the Mayo Clinic.

In a recent interview with ITV News, Dench lamented that she can no longer recognize people. “I can’t see anymore,” she remarked. “I can’t see the television. I can’t see to read.”

During the interview, she was joined by longtime friend and former Macbeth co-star Ian McKellen. Dench humorously noted that she could only see his “outline” and recognized him due to the distinct scarf he wore during their performances.

Judi Dench in 2022.

Mike Marsland/WireImage

McKellen cheekily queried, “But do you go up to total strangers and say, ‘Lovely to see you again?’” Dench laughed in response, “Yes, sometimes.”

This year, Dench revealed she can no longer go out alone, citing the deterioration of her vision. “Somebody will always be with me,” she explained during an appearance on Trinny Woodall’s podcast, Fearless. “I have to now because I can’t see and I will walk into something or fall over.”

She also admitted to feelings of anxiety before attending social events. “I’m not good at being on my own at all, nor would I be now,” she said, adding humorously that she sometimes pretends to have no eyesight.

Judi Dench at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show on May 20, 2024.

Karwai Tang/WireImage

Dench has also discussed the impact of her vision loss on her acting career, particularly in memorizing lines. “It has become impossible,” she stated on The Graham Norton Show. “I need to find a machine that not only teaches me my lines but also tells me where they appear on the page.”

In 2021, speaking at an event for the Vision Foundation, a London-based charity, Dench shared her strategy of memorizing scripts since reading has become increasingly difficult. “You find a way of just getting about and getting over the things that you find very difficult,” she remarked. “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.”