Dame Judi Dench Reveals End to Acting Career Due to Macular Degeneration
The 91-year-old icon can no longer perform on stage or screen, nor read, due to her long-standing eye condition.
Sarah Connor
Dame Judi Dench can no longer act or read due to an eye condition.
The diagnosis of age-related macular degeneration (AMD) arrived in 2012. Her sight loss now increasingly affects her ability to work, she confirms.
"I can't be on stage. I can't do a play anymore. I can't do a film anymore. I can't read anymore," she states. Her last film cameos occurred in 2022.
I can't be on stage. I can't do a play anymore. I can't do a film anymore. I can't read anymore.
Despite these challenges, Dame Judi promotes her new memoir, 'Is It Too Late to Make a Run for It'. She co-wrote the book with fellow actor Brendan O'Hea.
She expects to return to the stage, hosting evenings with O'Hea as part of her book promotion.
Dame Judi Dench believes trigger warnings have "gone too far," starting to "mollycoddle" audiences. Her condition also leads to awkward encounters where she approaches the wrong people.
The actress, known for her Academy Award-winning role as Queen Elizabeth I in Shakespeare in Love (1999), also portrayed 'M' in the James Bond series, beginning with GoldenEye (1995). She reflected on her extensive career.
She recalled watching her brother play King Duncan in Macbeth when she was nine. She also remembered an invitation to lunch from former MI6 chief Sir David Spedding.
Separately, she met American actor Sidney Poitier backstage after a performance. Poitier became the first black man to win the Academy Award for best actor in 1964.
"There's nothing to say for it at all. [I] don't think about it too much," Dame Judi Dench states. She also confirmed she could not see interviewer Emma Barnett’s face "at all" during a recent conversation.
There's nothing to say for it at all. [I] don't think about it too much.