Judi Dench Reveals She Can No Longer Recognize Faces As Her Vision Deteriorates
Dame Judi Dench delivers a stark update on her eyesight, saying macular degeneration has left her unable to recognize anyone after profound vision loss shared in a candid ITV News interview.
Judi Dench just gave a blunt update on her eyesight, and it is tough to hear. The Oscar winner (Shakespeare in Love, Skyfall) says her vision has deteriorated to the point where faces are basically a mystery to her now.
What she said
In a new chat with ITV News, Dench was asked why she does not pop up on camera much anymore. She did not sugarcoat it: she simply cannot see well enough to make that work. The most heartbreaking part came when she explained how face recognition has slipped away.
'I can't recognize anybody now.'
She added that the vision loss has crept into everyday life too — she cannot watch television and she cannot read.
What she is dealing with
Dench has age-related macular degeneration (AMD), which hits the center of your vision — the exact part you use to read, watch TV, and recognize faces. She was diagnosed back in 2012, and it has gotten worse over the years. Sitting beside her, Ian McKellen tried to lighten the moment, and Dench noted she can sometimes make out the outline of someone she knows very well, but the details are gone. As for the stage, she was asked if she is doing theater; her answer was a flat no.
McKellen has her back (and still gets the last joke)
McKellen was with her during the interview, reassuring and teasing in equal measure. He joked that she occasionally greets total strangers as if they are old friends, which she admitted happens. He also took a beat to praise her — calling her a singular talent — before the two slipped into the kind of warm, mischievous back-and-forth you only get from decades of friendship.
Old partners, new mission
Dench and McKellen go way back to their Royal Shakespeare Company run of Macbeth in 1976. About 50 years later, they have reunited again — this time to champion a different way of teaching Shakespeare in schools.
Where things stand
- Diagnosed with AMD in 2012; her central vision has deteriorated since.
- She says she is staying off camera, cannot read, and cannot watch TV.
- Faces are hardest: she can sometimes see an outline of someone familiar, but not the details.
- No current plans for theater work.
- She and Ian McKellen remain close collaborators and are supporting a new approach to teaching Shakespeare in schools.