\n<\/p>\n
Judi Dench, the veteran English stage and film actress, said this month that her vision loss had progressed to the point that she no longer attended red-carpet premieres and other events alone.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have to now because I can\u2019t see and I\u2019ll walk into something,\u201d Dench, who turned 90 last month, said in an interview on the podcast \u201cFearless\u201d last week.<\/p>\n
Dench, who played M in seven James Bond movies, began her acting career in the late 1950s. In 1988, Queen Elizabeth II made her a dame, the female equivalent of a knight.<\/p>\n
In recent years, Dench has spoken about how her worsening eyesight has made it more difficult to work and read scripts. She told The Los Angeles Times in 2012<\/a> that she had macular degeneration, a common eye problem that, according to the American Academy of Ophthalmology<\/a>, is a leading cause of vision loss for people over 50.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n An estimated 19.8 million Americans over 40 had age-related macular degeneration in 2019, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention<\/a>.<\/p>\n In an episode of the podcast \u201cFearless\u201d that was released on Jan. 14, Dench spoke about her vision loss with the host, Trinny Woodall, an English television personality known for her work on fashion makeover shows.<\/p>\n Woodall asked Dench how she had navigated high-profile theater and film events during her career, and Dench said it was something she had not been good at when she had done it alone, before her vision deteriorated. \u201cNor would I be now,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd fortunately, I don\u2019t have to be now,\u201d she added, laughing, \u201cbecause I pretend to have no eyesight.\u201d<\/p>\n A representative for Dench did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Wednesday.<\/p>\n Dench told The Sunday Mirror in 2023<\/a> that she was trying to work as much as she could even though she could no longer see well enough to read. \u201cI mean I can\u2019t see on a film set anymore,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n \u201cIt\u2019s difficult for me if I have any length of a part,\u201d she said. \u201cI haven\u2019t yet found a way. Because I have so many friends who will teach me the script. But I have a photographic memory.\u201d<\/p>\n Her most recent film appearances include a cameo in the 2022 film \u201cSpirited\u201d and as a grandmother in the 2021 film \u201cBelfast,\u201d a role for which she received an Oscar nomination<\/a> for best supporting actress.<\/p>\n In 2023 and 2024, she did several performances in Britain of a two-person show, \u201cI Remember It Well,<\/a>\u201d also starring her friend Gyles Brandreth, in which she recounted anecdotes from her life.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n