Dame Judi Dench don reveal say her eye condition don stop am from performing on stage or reading, more than a decade after dem diagnose am. The award-winning British actress tok on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, where she tell Emma Barnett say the condition dey affect her sight well well.
Dench was diagnosed with age-related macular degeneration (AMD) in 2012. The condition dey affect her vision and e don make am “incredibly difficult” to even recognise faces. She tok say: “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 also explain how the condition dey cause awkward encounters. Sometimes she dey approach the wrong people “and give them an almost hug” before she realise say she don make mistake. When dem ask am about ageing, Dench, wey don reach 91, reply: “There’s nothing to say for it at all. [I] don’t think about it too much.”
Dench career don span more than seven decades, and she be one of Britain’s most celebrated actors, with work across theatre, television and film. She win Academy Award for best supporting actress for playing Queen Elizabeth I in Shakespeare in Love in 1999. She also become internationally recognised for her portrayal of “M“, James Bond’s boss. She make her debut as the character in GoldenEye in 1995, becoming the first woman to play the role.
Her sight loss don increasingly affect her ability to work. The actress previously speak about struggling to see on film sets and having difficulty learning scripts. Despite her condition, she don continue to make public appearances and speak openly about adapting to life with deteriorating vision, and tok say “the radio has always been important to me”.
During the interview, Dench recall being invited to lunch by former MI6 chief Sir David Spedding, and she describe the experience as “very exciting”. When she ask where her driver should drop her off, dem tell am: “No, no, we’ll send a car to you, we’ll come and pick you up.” But she arrive about 20 minutes late after the driver struggle to find her house. She tok say: “I said, ‘I’m sorry for being so late because your driver couldn’t find my house.’ I loved it.”
Asked if she get any views on who should play the next Bond, she simply reply “no”. Dench also discuss meeting American actor Sidney Poitier, who become the first black man to win the Academy Award for best actor in 1964. She was appearing in Amy’s View in New York when Poitier come backstage after a performance. She recall that director Richard Eyre was in her dressing room, giving her notes, when there was a knock at the door.
