LONDON, Oct 22 (Reuters) – British actress Judi Dench said her eyesight had deteriorated to the point that she could no longer act on stage or in films.
Dench, 91, has had macular degeneration for more than a decade.
“I can’t be on stage, I can’t do a play anymore, I can’t do a film anymore, I can’t read anymore,” she told BBC Radio on Thursday.
“So you’ve got to adjust to all that, and make allowances for it and just get on and don’t think about it too much.”
She said she could no longer recognise faces, meaning she often nearly hugged strangers, mistaking them for people she knew.
Dench has had a seven-decade career on stage, film and television, receiving critical acclaim, including an Oscar, a Tony and seven Olivier awards. She appeared as the character “M” in eight James Bond films.
She has played many of Shakespeare’s major roles, including Juliet, Lady Macbeth and Cleopatra, and spoke of her enduring love for his poetry.
“I am besotted by the sonnets, I just love them,” she said.
“The way he summed up so simply the way that any of us feel about, well, anything,” she added.
Reflecting on her career, Dench said she had taken risks in choosing roles, adding that performing was always a daunting experience.
“For me, always frightening, but that’s part of it,” she said. “It’s part of what that fear generates, an energy that you can use up, use the energy.”
“It’s always ‘work in progress’, always.”
(Reporting by Paul Sandle; Editing by Hugh Lawson)
