Judi Dench may be one of Britain’s most beloved actresses, but there’s one term she absolutely hates to hear used in her name: “national treasure.” At 91, the Oscar-winning actress is still looking for new professional challenges and has no intention of retiring despite her deteriorating eyesight.
“I hate it. It sounds like I’m some dusty old relic, shoved in the back of a cupboard with dinosaur fossils and a broken Roman shield,“ Dench says of the term “national treasure.” to The Times.
The actress is even more categorical about retirement. The constant questions about when she intends to end her career clearly irritate her.
„„Retirement“, „vintage“, „old“ - let's ban those words,“ she says.
Dench even has her own idea of the ideal end to her professional career.
„I want to be like Newton Blick, who died in his dressing room after a performance. I want to be one of those women who jumps out of a plane when they're 100," says the actress.
In a memoir written with her friend Brendan O’Hea, Judi Dench reveals the highs and lows of her brilliant career, including being fired from James Bond, a sex scene with Jeremy Irons and getting locked out of the Oscars https://t.co/HWnup2Vwkv https://t.co/5JLRCrAJLp
— The Times and Sunday Times (@thetimes) October 10, 2026
But behind her sense of humor lies a serious health challenge. Back in 2012, Dench was diagnosed with age-related macular degeneration - a disease that affects central vision. As it progresses, she gradually loses her ability to read scripts, watch television, and handle a number of daily activities independently.
The actress herself describes her approach to the disease with characteristic self-irony - relying on those around her and pretending that the problem does not exist.
“I'm pretty good at pretending that I can see,” she jokes.
The vision problems have forced her to completely change the way she prepares for her roles. Since she can no longer read scripts, friends and colleagues read them aloud to her, and Dench memorizes her lines.
The curious paradox is that she can still recite long passages of Shakespeare, but she admits that her short-term memory is already failing her.
“I can“t remember what I'm doing tomorrow, I swear“, the actress admits.
Her deteriorating eyesight has already forced her to give up driving, embroidery and going out on her own, and her daily life is largely organized with the help of assistants.
However, technology is giving Dench new hope that she will be able to maintain her professional independence. The actress uses smart glasses with a camera and artificial intelligence functions. The device can recognize written text and convert it into speech that she hears through the glasses.
The technology could potentially help her work with scripts even without someone to read them to her.
Dench learned about the opportunity through the charity Sight for Surrey, which supports people with visual impairments and of which the actress is patron.
Despite the limitations that the disease imposes on her daily life, one thing remains unchanged - her unwillingness to let age determine when her career should end.
Source: Daily Mail