90-year-old Academy Award winner Judi Dench recently opened up about her vision struggles on Trinny Woodall’s Fearless podcast, revealing that she can no longer go out alone.
“There will always be someone with me,” Dench shared. “I have to now because I can’t see, and I might bump into something or fall.”
She also admitted to feeling anxious before events, though she humorously added, “Luckily, I don’t have to be alone now because I pretend that I can’t see.”
Dench has been living with macular degeneration, a condition that can cause severe and irreversible central vision loss, as noted by the Mayo Clinic. It is one of the leading causes of blindness in people over 50. She first disclosed her diagnosis in 2012 after speculation about her eyesight began circulating.
At a 2021 event for the Vision Foundation, Dench spoke about how she navigates her worsening vision, particularly when it comes to reading scripts.
“You find ways to get through the challenges,” she explained. “I now rely on my friends to repeatedly say my lines to me until I learn them.”
She later joked, “I just hope no one notices if I completely mess them up!”
During a 2023 appearance on The Graham Norton Show, Dench admitted that her photographic memory, once a great asset, has made learning lines even harder.
“I need a machine that not only teaches me my lines but also tells me where they are on the page,” she said. “I used to memorize scripts effortlessly. I could probably recite the entire Twelfth Night play right now!”