14 DAY TRIAL // The 77-year-old Dame Judi Dench is battling to save her eyesight. Having been diagnosed with macular degeneration, the actress can now hardly see the faces of people sitting in front of her – and she can't even read scripts anymore.
Famous for a variety of roles, including that of M in James Bond, Dench is now fighting a condition her mother also had but, at the same time, she's determined not to let that force her to retire.
“I can’t read scripts any more because of the trouble with my eyes. And so somebody comes in and reads them to me, like telling me a story,” the actress says in a very touching interview with The Mirror.
“It’s usually my daughter or my agent or a friend and actually I like that, because I sit there and imagine the story in my mind,” the actress adds.
She knows the condition has a lot to do with her age but she's not losing hope for a cure. In fact, she's just started treatment and she's waiting patiently to see if it pays off.
“I’ve got what my ma had, macular degeneration, which you get when you get old. I had wet in one eye and dry in the other and they had to do these injections and I think it’s arrested it. I hope so,” the star explains.
Living in a world where darkness threatens to take over completely is very frustrating, Dench further explains in the same interview.
She can't see the faces of the people sitting across from her at the restaurant table and she always has the impression that she's missing out on something that everybody else is aware of.
“Actually, what I miss are people corpsing on stage. I know there might be something going on but sometimes I can’t see it and that infuriates me as I think I’m really missing out on something,” she says.
She also misses reading books, but she plans to use technology to enjoy it once more: she wants to buy an e-reader so she can increase the fonts until she can see them.
“You get used to it. I’ve got lenses and glasses and things and very bright light helps. I can do a crossword if it’s bright sunshine but if a cloud comes out the next minute I can’t see anything,” she says.
Right now, Dame Judi Dench is working on the upcoming James Bond film, “Skyfall.” She's also promoting “The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel,” whose trailer you can see below.
