Judi Dench Stuart C. Wilson/Getty Images for BFI Share on Facebook Share on X Google Preferred Share to Flipboard Show additional share options Share on LinkedIn Share on Pinterest Share on Reddit Share on Tumblr Share on Whats App Send an Email Print the Article Post a Comment Judi Dench is opening up about her worsening eye condition and how she "can't recognize anybody now." The Oscar winner previously shared that she was diagnosed with age-related macular degeneration. According to the Mayo Clinic, the condition causes blurred vision or reduced central vision and is common among people over the age of 50. When asked by ITV why she doesn't appear onscreen much anymore, Dench replied, "I can't see anymore. I've got, you know, that thing." When fellow actor Ian McKellen quipped that they could see her, the 90-year-old actress added, "Yes, and I can see your outline and I know you so well. But I can't recognize anybody now. ... I can't see the television, I can't see to read." Related Stories Lifestyle James Van Der Beek Auctioning Off 'Dawson's Creek' Items to Fund His Cancer Fight Music Dolly Parton's Sister Clarifies Prayer Ask: "I Didn't Mean to Scare Anyone" McKellen later joked, "But do you go up to total strangers and say, 'Lovely to see you again?'" Dench laughed in response, admitting, "Sometimes." In 2012, the actress told the Daily Mirror that she was already struggling to read her own scripts and had to rely on help from friends and family following her diagnosis. "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," she said at the time. "The most distressing thing is in a restaurant in the evening, I can't see the person I'm having dinner with." Dench, considered one of Britain's greatest actresses, is most known for her roles in the James Bond franchise and 1998's Shakespeare in Love, among dozens of other projects. THR Newsletters Sign up for THR news straight to your inbox every day Subscribe Sign Up Palestine Guy Pearce Apologizes After Sharing Antisemitic Posts on Social Media Sports Fuzzy Zoeller, Golf Champion Haunted by Racist Joke About Tiger Woods, Dies at 74 Sports Inside the Star-Studded F1 Las Vegas Grand Prix Women in Entertainment 2025 THR's Women in Entertainment Gala Adds Dakota Johnson, Goldie Hawn, Rachel Sennott, Regina Hall, Chase Infiniti, Jimmy Kimmel and Molly McNearney to Speaker Lineup Netflix BAFTA Breakthroughs Talk 'Atomic People,' 'Harvest,' 'Mr Loverman,' 'Grand Theft Hamlet' Netflix BAFTA Breakthrough: Ellis Howard, Laura Carreira, Akinola Davies Jr. Among Rising U.K. Creatives Palestine Guy Pearce Apologizes After Sharing Antisemitic Posts on Social Media Sports Fuzzy Zoeller, Golf Champion Haunted by Racist Joke About Tiger Woods, Dies at 74 Sports Inside the Star-Studded F1 Las Vegas Grand Prix Women in Entertainment 2025 THR's Women in Entertainment Gala Adds Dakota Johnson, Goldie Hawn, Rachel Sennott, Regina Hall, Chase Infiniti, Jimmy Kimmel and Molly McNearney to Speaker Lineup Netflix BAFTA Breakthroughs Talk 'Atomic People,' 'Harvest,' 'Mr Loverman,' 'Grand Theft Hamlet' Netflix BAFTA Breakthrough: Ellis Howard, Laura Carreira, Akinola Davies Jr. Among Rising U.K. Creatives