Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Judi Dench determined to continue acting despite sight loss: ‘Friends read lines to me over and over again’

Actor says her condition has led to some funny moments at work

Ellie Harrison
Friday 26 February 2021 08:36 GMT
Comments
Judi Dench says TikTok 'saved my life'

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Judi Dench has discussed her deteriorating eyesight in a online event for the Vision Foundation with Stephen Fry and Hayley Mills.

She said she has come up with inventive ways to keep working as an actor, by relying on close friends to help her memorise new scripts through the repetition of reading them aloud to her.

“You find a way of just getting about and getting over the things that you find very difficult,” Dench said. “I’ve had to find another way of learning lines and things, which is having great friends of mine repeat them to me over and over and over again.

“So I have to learn through repetition, and I just hope that people won’t notice too much if all the lines are completely hopeless!”

Read more - Judi Dench reveals a clairvoyant chose her name

Dench’s sight loss has led to some funny moments at work.

“I was doing The Winter’s Tale with Kenneth Branagh a couple of years ago,” she said, “playing Paulina, and after we had been running for three weeks or so at the Garrick he said to me – I have a long speech at the end – he said: ‘Judi, if you were to say that speech about eight feet to your right, you’d be saying it to me and not to the pros’ arch.’ I rely on people to tell me!”

Read more - From Anthony Hopkins to Jane Fonda: 2020 proved that older stars are so much better at social media

The 86-year-old actor has stayed busy through her condition, having starred in the films Cats, Artemis Fowl, Blithe Spirit and Six Minutes to Midnight just in the last two years.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in