Judi Dench, a celebrated icon of the British film industry and a legendary actress, has mesmerized audiences all over the world with her extraordinary talent and charisma. Regarded as one of Britain’s greatest actors, the actress has overcome many challenges throughout her life and acting career.
But over the past few years, the well-known actress has struggled with the effects of age-related macular degeneration, a condition that has gradually reduced her vision. Dench discussed age-related macular degeneration in 2012. Since her vision loss has gotten so bad, the actress, 88, is reportedly unable to see on film sets.
Dench is still having trouble seeing, but she is also worried about her daughter’s (Finty Williams) safety. This is most likely making the latter feel paranoid.
Judi Dench’s Vision Loss Has Made Her Worried About Her Daughter
Like any other mother-daughter bond, Finty Williams and Judi Dench have a close, loving relationship. However, it is only normal for her to experience increasing levels of worry and protectiveness for her daughter as the latter’s vision loss worsens. The actress, 88, claimed in an interview with The Guardian that
“I rely on people to tell me!”
Dench said that her mother suffered from a similar loss of vision, and the Allelujah actress has growing concerns for her daughter given that
“Now Finty, my daughter, goes and has her eyes checked. It is intensely irritating.”
Dench did not hold back, however, from highlighting the fortitude and resiliency of the human spirit, demonstrating that extraordinary people like her do not allow physical limitations to define their lives (via The Guardian):
“But it does enable you to do one thing and that is that you have to get very close to people before you can recognise who they are. During lockdown I made a film and I was up close addressing people wearing masks during rehearsals, nothing to do with any scene I’m in. It’s kind of exquisite if you can do that and that’s the good side of it, and you have to look at that side of it.”
The acclaimed actress also talked about the difficulties and unexpected benefits of living with failing eyesight. She discussed how age-related macular degeneration, which affects more than 600,000 people in the UK, had taught her to adapt to her condition (via The Guardian):
“You find a way of just getting about and getting over the things that you find very difficult,” she said. “I’ve had to find another way of learning lines and things, which is having great friends of mine repeat them to me over and over and over again. So I have to learn through repetition, and I just hope that people won’t notice too much if all the lines are completely hopeless!”
It’s ‘Become Impossible’ for Judi Dench to Learn Her Lines Due to Eyesight Loss
During an appearance on The Graham Norton Show, Judi Dench discussed how her aging-related degenerative eye condition is affecting her capacity to recall film lines:
“It has 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. I used to find it very easy to learn lines and remember them. I could do the whole of Twelfth Night right now.”
The Academy Award-winning actress revealed in 2012 that she had been diagnosed with macular degeneration. However, she did not stop driving until 2017. Dench told Radio Times (via The Daily Telegraph):
“A couple of years ago I stopped driving, which was one of the most traumatic moments of my life. It was absolutely appalling. But I just know I’ll kill somebody if I get behind the wheel of a car now.”
The actress also shared that she was unsure of when she would completely lose her vision, but added:
“I don’t want to say. I can see enough… You adapt to it. So I ignore it altogether.”
Despite this, Dench has continued to work; her recent film role was in Richard Eyre’s 2018 British drama Allelujah, which also starred Bally Gill, Jennifer Saunders, Russell Tovey, Derek Jacobi, and David Bradley.
Well, her journey, which was inspirational and unwavering, will live on in the memories of those who seriously adore her.
Source- The Guardian; The Graham Norton Show; The Daily Telegraph
