Judi Dench says degenerative eye condition is making it ‘impossible’ to act’

“It’s become impossible and because I have a photographic memory, I need to find a machine that not only teaches me my lines but also tells me where they appear on the page,” she said, according to People. “I used to find it very easy to learn lines and remember them. I could do the whole of ‘Twelfth Night’ right now.”

Dench, who was first diagnosed with AMD (age-related macular degeneration) in 2012, had said as recently as 2021 that she still thinks of herself as a young woman.

“In my mind’s eye I’m 6 feet and willowy and about 39,” she told the Guardian in an interview that year.

Even though her eyesight has worsened, Dench is finding other ways to stay active.

She entertained people on New Year’s Eve alongside singer Sharleen Spiteri with an impromptu rendition of ABBA’s “Waterloo” at a hotel in Scotland. She’s also been promoting her new movie “Allelujah,” which is based on a 2018 play by Alan Bennett, set in a geriatric ward.

Through it all, Dench has maintained her sparkling sense of humor. In another recent interview with the Guardian, she was recounting her struggles acting with the ongoing eyesight loss.

“I was doing 'The Winter’s Tale' with Kenneth Branagh a couple of years ago, playing Paulina, and after we had been running for three weeks or so at the Garrick he said: ‘Judi, if you were to say that speech about eight feet to your right, you’d be saying it to me and not to the pros’ arch.” Laughing, she added: “I rely on people to tell me!”