Dame Judi Dench has said she has no plans for any more acting jobs as she “can’t even see”.
The Oscar-winning actress, 89, has not appeared on the big screen since she appeared in 2022’s Spirited and is losing her sight to macular degeneration, which has grown so severe she can no longer drive or read scripts.
When asked if she has any acting work planned, she told a reporter at London’s recent Chelsea Flower Show: “No, no, I can’t even see!”
The Daily Mirror has reported her agent said there was nothing more to add to Judi’s comment when they were approached for clarification on her acting plans.
Her representative told the newspaper: “Judi has nothing more to add than all she mentioned to the journalist.”
Judi is still busy with off-screen projects, and is still promoting her 2023 book, Shakespeare: The Man Who Pays the Rent.
She is planning to appear at Cheltenham Book Fair and has three shows planned with raconteur Gyles Brandreth.
Near the end of 2022, Judi said she was refusing to retire despite her eye condition.
She told Louis Theorux on the BBC’s Louis Theroux Interviews show: “I don’t want to retire. I’m not doing much at the moment because I can’t see. It’s bad.
“I have a photographic memory so, a person saying to me, ”This is your line…’ I can do that.”
The actress had ‘carpe diem’ tattooed on her right wrist a few years ago and recently told Yours magazine she is refusing to slow down as she ages.
She added: “We’ve got to keep going and not think of age too much. You have to think you are about 56.
“I’m a great advocate for not sitting back. I can never think, ‘Oh, my eyesight’s bad, I can’t possibly do this’. I refuse to be beaten by age.”
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