Oscar winner Judi Dench’s eye disease is now so bad she can ‘barely see’

Legendary actor Judi Dench has said her eye disease is now so bad she can’t read scripts or see on sets anymore – but she still wants to work.

Judi Dench attends the "Allelujiah" European Premiere during the 66th BFI London Film Festival at Southbank Centre on October 09, 2022 in London, England. (Photo by Stuart C. Wilson/Getty Images for BFI)

Oscar winner Judi Dench has said she can no longer “see on a film set” and can’t read her scripts due to a degenerative eye disease.

The 88-year-old Brit, who has been acting for decades, is known worldwide for her portrayal of MI6 head M in seven James Bond films over 20 years.

She has been nominated for eight Academy Awards, most recently just last year for the film Belfast. She won the best actor gong in 1999 for her role as Queen Elizabeth I in Shakespeare in Love. Dench has also won six BAFTAs and two Golden Globes.

Judi Dench has said she can no longer read scripts. (Photo by Stuart C. Wilson/Getty Images for BFI)

But talking to UK newspaperThe Mirror, Dench said her age-related macular degeneration (AMD) diagnosed in 2012, had progressed to such an extent that she was now barely able to see.

“I can’t see on a film set any more,” Dench said.

“And I can’t see to read. So I can’t see much.

“It’s difficult for me if I have any length of a part. I haven’t yet found a way.

“But you just deal with it. I have so many friends who will teach me the script.”

She had previously said that she was unable to drive due to her AMD.

“It’s the most terrible shock to the system.

“Ghastly. It’s terrible to be so dependent on people.”

Judi Dench attends the premiere of No Time to Die at the Royal Albert Hall on September 28, 2021 in London. (Photo by Ian Gavan/Getty Images for EON Productions, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios, and Universal Pictures)

However, Dench said she had no plans to stop working.

“I have an irrational fear of boredom.

“That’s why I now have this tattoo that says carpe diem (“seize the day”). That’s what we should live by.”

Dench’s first husband, fellow actor Michael Williams, died from lung cancer in 2001.

She now lives with her partner David Mills.

“I never expected, not for a minute, that there would be anybody else in my life after Michael died,” she said.

“I’ve had many, many good friends, but it’s been very unexpected to have somebody new who is as caring as my partner, David.

“I feel very lucky indeed. And to laugh with somebody is terribly important! Laughing is the most important thing. We laugh about everything.”

Queen Camilla with Judi Dench during a reception for the inaugural Queen's Reading Room Literary Festival at Hampton Court Palace on June 11, 2023 in London, England. (Photo by Adrian Dennis – WPA Pool/Getty Images)

Last year, Dench had a beef with streamer Netflix over hit TV series The Crown. It was an argument the dame ended up winning.

She had criticised the program as being “cruel” and leading viewers to think it was an accurate retelling of the lives of the royal family.

Judi Dench holds her Oscar for Best Supporting Actress in 1999. Picture: AFP.

In a letter to the UK’s The Times, Dench said that the “closer the drama comes to our present times, the more freely it seems willing to blur the lines between historical accuracy and crude sensationalism”.

Dench is thought to be close to the royals, particularly Queen Camilla.

Former UK Prime Minister John Major also slammed The Crown, which in the most recent series saw his own dealings with the royals dramatised.

He said a scene between Prince Charles and his on screen character, played by Johnny Lee Miller, was “damaging malicious fiction” and “a barrel-load of nonsense”.

Netflix duly responded to the criticism, adding a disclaimer to the trailer that the show was a “fictional dramatisation”.

Originally published as Oscar winner Judi Dench’s eye disease is now so bad she can ‘barely see’