Judi Dench shared a health update on her vision loss, revealing that she can no longer identify people.
In a joint interview with her former Macbeth costar Ian McKellan for ITV News, published on Wednesday, November 26, Dench, 90, detailed how macular degeneration has impacted her sight. “I can see your [McKellan’s] outline and I know you so well … but I can’t recognize anybody now,” Dench said as she turned from the actor, 86, to the interviewer. “I can’t see the television, [and I] can’t see to read.”
Dench revealed in 2012 that she was diagnosed with age-related macular degeneration, with Cleveland Clinic describing it as “primarily an age-related retinal condition” that affects central vision, with “treatments, but [no] cure.”
The Notes on a Scandal star, who reunited with McKellan 50 years after starring alongside him in the Royal Shakespeare Company’s U.K. stage production of Macbeth, added that she was no longer able to attend theater performances due to her diminishing sight.
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McKellan brought some lightness into the interview by jokingly asking his former costar, “But do you go up to total strangers and say, ‘Lovely to see you again?’,” to which Dench laughed at before responding, “Yes, sometimes.”
Dench revealed in January that her vision loss has affected her ability to attend public events. During an appearance on an episode of Trinny Woodall’s “Fearless” podcast, she said, “I’m always nervous before going to something,” before adding that somebody has to “be with me” during red carpet appearances.
She jokingly concluded, “I’m not good at that at all. Not at all. Nor would I be now. And fortunately, I don’t have to be now,” before noting that she has “no eyesight” and “might trip up.”
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Dench revealed her diagnosis via a statement shared with Reuters more than one decade ago. “In response to the numerous articles in the media concerning my eye condition – macular degeneration – I do not wish for this to be overblown,” the 2012 statement read. “This condition is something that thousands and thousands of people all over the world are having to contend with. It’s something that I have learnt to cope with and adapt to – and it will not lead to blindness.”
She expanded on the disease during a 2021 interview with The Guardian, stating that she learned to adapt to her deteriorating vision. “You find a way of just getting about and getting over the things that you find very difficult,” Dench told the outlet at the time. “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.”
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The English actress is renowned for performances on both the screen and the stage, scoring an Oscar award for her supporting role as Queen Elizabeth I in Shakespeare in Love opposite Gwyneth Paltrow, who also picked up an Oscar for her work in the 1998 film.
Dench, who has been in a relationship with conservationist David Mills since 2010, was also appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1970 and Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1988.
