Veteran actress Dame Judi Dench has revealed that her macular degeneration has led to such poor vision that she can no longer travel without a companion.
While promoting her latest film, The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel the 80-year-old quipped that her gradual loss of eyesight has meant she has to be more cautious or she stumbles about and appears “drunk”.
“These days I can’t really travel on my own because I need someone to say, ‘Look out, there’s a step here!’ or else I fall all over the place like a mad, drunk lady,” Judi admitted to the UK’s Radio Times.
But Judi said that while filming the Marigold sequel in India she was glad to be reunited with cast mates Maggie Smith, Celia Imrie, Penelope Wilton and Bill Nighy among others.
“It was just glorious going back to India again with Mags, Celia, Pep and Bill. We’re all great friends and we’ve done masses of things together.
“It was like an old travelling theatre company coming back together – old being the operative word!”
In Dame Judi’s exclusive interview with The Weekly, she insisted that her fading eyesight didn’t hinder her in getting on with things.
“I’ve got something masses of people have got,” said Judi.
And while she can read with the help of a special lamp and making her way around a stage or a movie set is no problem, her condition has made it difficult to recognise faces in a room full of people.
“I have to get quite up close to them, which is a wonderful excuse to see who it is,” she said. “So I’d have to come within three feet of you and then it’s, ‘Hello, hello’! … Yes, I quite enjoy it actually.”
In her chat with The Weekly the acting veteran also discussed how she avoided playing widows for years after the death of her husband, Michael in 2001 but her character Evelyn Greenslade in The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel marked a change of heart.
Dench said that working on three films “straight away” after her husband’s death meant she didn’t give herself time to “sit about and mope.”
“I guess [Evelyn] did the same. She said, ‘I’m off, I’m off to India'”, explains Dench. “In a way, grief affects people in very different ways.”
Dame Judi – whose career has spanned more than six decades – told The Weekly that while the Marigold movies are sentimental about growing old she’s not fond of ageing.
“I don’t like getting old at all,” confesses the accomplished thespian.
“I don’t think about it. I refuse to give in. Or at least I hope I do.”
See Judi Dench’s career highlights.
“These days I can’t really travel on my own because I need someone to say, ‘Look out, there’s a step here!’ or else I fall all over the place like a mad, drunk lady,” Judi admitted to the UK’s Radio Times.
Actors Ronald Pickup, Dame Judi Dench, Dame Maggie Smith and director John Madden attend The Royal Film Performance and World Premiere of The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel in London’s Leicester Square.
Career highlights; Dame Judi stars in The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel.
The actress in Mrs Brown, with Billy Connolly.
Judi opposite Cate Blanchett in Notes On A Scandal.
Judi received an Oscar nomination for her role in Philomena alongside Steve Coogan.
Judi bagged an Oscar for her stellar eight minute performance as Queen Elizabeth I in Shakespeare in Love.
Judi as the formidable M in Skyfall with Daniel Craig as 007 James Bond.
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