Judi Dench says she can’t see on movie sets anymore
By: Jack Guy CNN
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Judi Dench says she can’t see on movie sets anymore
Dench, 88, told UK newspaper the Daily Mirror’s Notebook magazine on Sunday that it’s hard to learn lines with her condition.
“I mean I can’t see on a film set anymore,” said Dench.
“And I can’t see to read. So I can’t see much. But you know you just deal with it. Get on. It’s difficult for me if I have any length of a part. I haven’t yet found a way. Because I have so many friends who will teach me the script. But I have a photographic memory.”
Judi Dench, here in March 2022, says that a degenerative eye condition has left her unable to read scripts or see on set. (Mike Blake/Reuters/File)
Oscar-winning actor Judi Dench says that a degenerative eye condition has left her unable to read scripts or see on set.
Dench, 88, told UK newspaper the Daily Mirror’s Notebook magazine on Sunday that it’s hard to learn lines with her condition.
“I mean I can’t see on a film set anymore,” said Dench.
“And I can’t see to read. So I can’t see much. But you know you just deal with it. Get on. It’s difficult for me if I have any length of a part. I haven’t yet found a way. Because I have so many friends who will teach me the script. But I have a photographic memory.”
Dench, who won a best supporting actress Oscar for her role as Elizabeth I in the 1998 film “Shakespeare in Love,” revealed in 2012 that she had been diagnosed with the eye condition, called age-related macular degeneration (AMD).
Despite these difficulties, Dench said she will try to work “as much as I can.”
CNN has reached out to Dench’s representatives.
Earlier this year, Dench told “The Graham Norton Show” that learning lines had “become impossible.”
“Normally somebody could just teach you the lines, and goodness knows that’s happened before, but now I’ve just found I have a photographic memory,” she said. Her memory is so impressive that she said she’s able to recite the whole of William Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night.”
The critically acclaimed actress of stage and screen, who has won two Golden Globes and several BAFTAs, also told Notebook that she tries to live each day to the full.
“I have an irrational fear of boredom,” she said. “That’s why I now have this tattoo that says carpe diem [seize the day]. That’s what we should live by.”
Dench got the tattoo in 2016 at the age of 81 as a gift from her daughter.
“That’s my motto: ‘Seize the day.’” Dench told Surrey Life magazine at the time. “Finty (her daughter) gave it to me for my 81st birthday. She’s wonderful with surprises.”
In May 2020, at the age of 85, Dench became the oldest person ever to feature on the cover of British Vogue. Editor-in-chief Edward Enninful hailed her as “one of the nation’s most beloved citizens” in an Instagram post at the time.
Save that two members besides the Group Administrator have blanket approval to post and promote seeds and articles, all members of this group are welcome to post to the Group seeds, articles and comments provided that: 1) Seeds and articles must first be approved by the Group Administrator, and 2) Discussion of politics and/or religion will be limited to the plots and themes of the movies or TV movies and series themselves and any religious comments or proselytizing or commentary concerning current political circumstances not in reference to the movies or TV movies and series themselves will be deleted along with all CoC and ToS violations. As well, anything posted that the administer of this group deems to be offensive or off topic will be deleted. Videos and images that the administrator cannot open must be described in text or they will be deleted.
Tags
Who is online
265 visitors
No more "M" for Judi, but I think she was killed off in a Michael Craig James Bond movie. However, she can still have as many M&Ms as she wants. Although I'm not at all into tattoos, and frankly think that they're Barbarian, I like the "Carpe Diem" concept.
At 68 my eyes have gone South.
Have to get stronger and stronger reading glasses.
Can no longer pretend to be a young James Bond.
Yeah, my eyes are steadily weakening as well, and the long covid makes it even worse.
We should form an old farts club.
"She used to be beautiful but she lived her life too fast."
(one of my favorite blues songs sung by Lynch and McBee)
Hey cj, an "Old Farts Club" is a great idea. If you don't, I might start one. To qualify one must be at least 75 years old.
A great actress.
Yep.
I love Judi Dench, but maybe it's time to call it a day.
Yeah, 88, and not an Oldsmobile.
There have to be people here who remember this car, although GM eventually gave up making that brand.
At one time I had an Olds 98 that was so long you needed two parking spaces to park it.
We will all call it a day at one point.
Those in cinema and music will outlive us all.
For us who are aging (gracefully?) I think that we should demand that the font used on NT has to be increased from 12 pt to 14pt.
Just increase your zoom. You should be able to make it as big as you want. If you make your zoom 125 or 150 the type will get bigger.
Get a 32 inch tv that can also be used as a monitor. There are off brand ones that are cheap and still reliable. I use one with my pc and it is great. Even if you enlarge the type quite a bit it still doesnt fill up the screen.
Actually, because I need more accurate eyesight for more purposes than a monitor, I'll see about a stronger pair of glasses.
It sucks to get old... I can't find a good pair of glasses to help me at my work desk so I either have to increase the screen size or squint a lot.
One pair of reading glasses to rule them all, one pair to find them, one pair to bring them all and in the darkness bind them.
I need a new pair now for the computer and reading books, and even though I have a 4.5 foot wide TV screen I need a pair for that now as well. Watching the Women's FiFA World Cup I can't read the scores they put up on the screen and everything is a little fuzzy.
I have a 19" wide screen here and I'm still having problems reading the 12 pt font.
I really love her work. Damn shame about her eyesight.
She was always great at the parts she played.