Judi Dench has said she can no longer perform on stage or in films because of her deteriorating eyesight, more than a decade after revealing she had been diagnosed with age-related macular degeneration.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can\u2019t be on stage. I can\u2019t do a play any more. I can\u2019t do a film any more. I can\u2019t read any more,\u201d the 91-year-old actor told BBC Radio 4\u2019s Today programme on Thursday.<\/p>\n
Dench, one of Britain\u2019s most celebrated actors, was diagnosed with age-related macular degeneration<\/a> (AMD) in 2012. The condition causes progressive sight loss and has increasingly affected her ability to work, as well as her independence in everyday life.<\/p>\n She described how she can no longer read or recognise faces. \u201cI go up to lots of the wrong people and give them an almost hug and say: \u2018Oh sorry, didn\u2019t realise\u2019,\u201d she said. She also told the presenter Emma Barnett: \u201cI can\u2019t see your face at all.\u201d<\/p>\n Dench\u2019s comments mark a stark development in a gradual deterioration that has affected her ability to work for years. In 2014, she said her failing eyesight made reading difficult, but insisted she would continue working for as long as she could.<\/p>\n By 2023, she said she could no longer see on film sets<\/a> and relied on friends to teach her scripts, learning lines through repetition. Last year, she revealed that she could no longer go out alone<\/a> because she feared walking into objects or falling over.<\/p>\n The actor also told Barnett of her sadness at no longer being able to see bluebells. \u201cThey said this summer was absolutely sensational with bluebells; I couldn\u2019t see one,\u201d she said. \u201cBut I know what my trees look like, and part of it is in my memory and part of it is about hopefully what I can make out.\u201d<\/p>\n Asked about ageing, Dench replied: \u201cThere\u2019s nothing to say for it at all. [I] don\u2019t think about it too much.\u201d<\/p>\n