Dame Judi Dench has shared an update on her vision loss, due to age-related macular degeneration.
The actress, 90, “can’t see anymore,” and can’t see the television or read anymore, she revealed during an interview with ITV News.
The legendary screen star, who appeared alongside Ian McKellen, was diagnosed with macular degeneration in 2012.
When asked why she hasn’t been on camera anymore and acting, the actress said: “No you don’t, because I can’t see anymore.”
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“I’ve got, you know, that thing,” she added, referring to the deteriorating eye condition.
“But we can see you,” McKellen said.
“Yes, and I can your outline and I know you so well in your Macbeth scarf,” she said. “But I can’t recognize anybody anymore.”
“I can’t see the television. I can’t see to read,” Dench noted.
“But do you go up to total strangers and say lovely to see you again?” McKellen asked.
“Sometimes,” the iconic James Bond actress said, with a laugh.
Age-related macular degeneration is the most common cause of severe loss of eyesight for people older than 50, according to John Hopkins Medicine.
JUDI DENCH’S VISION LOSS PREVENTS HER FROM GOING OUT ALONE
However, people rarely go blind from it, as the disease affects the center of vision.
In January, the actress revealed that she can’t go out by herself because of her vision loss.
“Somebody will always be with me,” Dench told Trinny Woodall on the “Fearless” podcast.
“I have to now because I can’t see, and I will walk into something or fall over,” she said at the time.
“I’m always nervous before going to something. I have no idea why… I’m not good at being on my own at all, nor would I be now. And fortunately, I don’t have to now because I pretend to have no eyesight,” she said with a laugh.
In 2023, Dench said she could no longer read scripts or memorize lines for acting jobs while appearing on “The Graham Norton Show.”
