Judi Dench Opened Up About A Personal Obstacle That’s Completely Changing Her Life

Dench’s career did not actually start off with Hollywood stardom in mind – she didn’t even envision herself on the stage! In a 2020 chat with actor David Tennant on his eponymous podcast, the seasoned actress said that she “trained as a theater designer” before deciding on her career in the spotlight.

Even then, Dench said, her dreams revolved around acting on stage – not on screen. She said, “I only ever wanted to do Shakespeare and be in the theater... There’s no substitute for theater.” And soon after graduating from The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, Dench made her visions into a reality by landing a huge part right off the bat.

Dench nabbed the part of Ophelia in the Old Vic Company’s rendition of Hamlet – a huge get for an ingenue like her. Ophelia was and is one of the most iconic female characters in Shakespeare’s cannon. Dench said that she “got off to a cracking start,” but the press didn’t quite agree. They apparently chided the National Theatre for casting “somebody who is just out of drama school.”

As a then-22-year-old fledgling actress, Dench understandably took the reviews to heart. So, she cut off her long locks into the short hairstyle we still know today. And Dench also kept acting – albeit in smaller on-stage roles. Those in the star’s circle could see her potential, so she started to believe in it, too.

Within the next two decades, Dench became a massive star on the British stage. In 1977 – 20 years after her debut in Hamlet – she earned her first of eight Laurence Olivier Awards, which are doled out to the best actors from London’s West End every year. And Dench won it for yet another iconic Shakespearean role. This time, it was Lady Macbeth in the Royal Shakespeare Company’s production of Macbeth.

Despite major successes on stage, Dench didn’t have an easy time making the leap into movies – but that difficulty had little to do with her health. The actress had starred in several British television programs and small-screen theatrical productions. And yet, when Dench started auditioning for films in the 1960s, she got some harsh feedback from casting directors.

Dench spoke to BBC Radio’s Front Row and revealed that, after a big film audition in the 1960s, an unidentified famous director told her she had “the wrong face” for Hollywood. The star recalled, “He said, ‘Thank you very much, I don’t think you should consider films.’”

The critique hadn’t fazed Dench much, because she saw herself as a theatrical actor – not a film star. But the joke would eventually be on that director who said she’d never make it in Hollywood. It would take a few decades after that audition, but she did eventually break out onto the big screen.

Nearly 40 years after her on-stage debut, Dench landed her breakout Hollywood role in 1995’s GoldenEye. But she was still at the top of her game artistically and health-wise. In the James Bond film she played M, who helmed the Secret Intelligence Service – also known as MI6. The series’ titular character is, of course, a spy working for the department under M’s wing.

Dench went on to play M in eight James Bond films and explained in her BBC Radio interview that she “loved it” all. Rumors swirled that, when her character’s death came in 2015’s Spectre, the actress cried over the news. Though Dench set the record straight, saying, “It's not true. No, I thought I’d had a good innings!”

And it wasn’t like Dench was wanting for work, either. Ever since her first film as M, she had a steady stream of Hollywood jobs. Two years after GoldenEye’s release the actress landed her first-ever starring role in a film: Mrs. Brown.

The movie was meant for TV, but once film execs saw the final product, they knew that it should be shown in cinemas instead. So, Mrs. Brown hit theaters and marked a surprise commercial and critical success for Dench, who played Queen Victoria in the film.

Dench’s next regal role then brought even more accolades for the star. In 1998’s Shakespeare in Love, she played Queen Elizabeth I. Interestingly, it was a supporting part with very little screen time – but her performance had a huge impact. The New York Times raved that Dench’s turn as the former monarch was “one of the film’s utmost treats.”

It wasn’t just the press who lauded Dench’s performance, either. The next year also saw her earning nominations for a slew of high-profile acting awards. And she brought home a few of them, too! Namely, Dench won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress, and, when accepting the award, she pointed out just how little screen time it took to win the statue. Dench said, “I feel for eight minutes on the screen, I should only get a little bit of him.”

With these illustrious highlights in mind, it’s hard to believe that Dench has had a silent struggle throughout much of the latter part of her career. In 2012 she finally found out the reason why she had noticed her eyesight starting to get worse.

Having clear vision is often at the crux of acting – how can one read a script without being able to see it? In Dench’s case, that wasn’t really the issue in regards to her blurring eyesight. That’s because she has always preferred to have someone else read the scripts to her. She explained that preference to The Hollywood Reporter in 2014, saying, “I suppose it’s the child in me. I think somebody coming around and telling you a story is irresistible.”

Otherwise, Dench has her scripts printed in giant text so that she can see it. She told Woman & Home in 2019, “My font is point-size 22, so you can imagine… if we’re doing a sonnet of 14 lines, all the others have one page and I’ll have 14! It’s ridiculous, it’s a farce, but I’m not going to give in.”

Obviously, Dench has made this setup work for herself. Since 2012 – the year she received her diagnosis – the actress has starred in nearly 20 films. Though Dench admits to having a few limitations. For example, she couldn’t trek to India to film The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. But her loved ones – and even fellow famous faces – help her to make everything work.

Dench has said that friends including Maggie Smith have to give her a hand when getting around, whether in her daily life or on set. She told Radio Times in 2015, “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.”

And the loss in eyesight has stripped Dench of one of her favorite pastimes, too. The actress loved to go to the movies but, now, she struggles to see what’s happening on-screen. At the Santa Barbara International Film Festival, Dench told journalists that “a friend of mine usually has to say, ‘He's kissing her now,’ or, ‘He’s walking away’” – narration that paints a picture of what she can’t see.

But, like we said, Dench has barely held back. She did her last-ever Bond film post-diagnosis, and she took an Oscar-nominated turn as Queen Victoria in 2017’s Victoria and Abdul. She even appeared in a LadBible video in which she taught how to rap by the British artist Lethal Bizzle!

So, what exactly was the diagnosis that Dench received in 2012? Her doctors found that the beloved actress suffered from age-related macular degeneration. It wasn’t an entirely unexpected thing to happen to the Oscar winner, though. Her mother had also lived with the same condition, which, according to the National Health Service, affects at least 600,000 people in the U.K. alone.

Age-related macular degeneration doesn’t cause any pain, but it can cloud your vision. For some, it’s relatively minor – making it hard to read or recognize faces. But others reach near or total blindness because of the condition, which most commonly appears in those aged 50 and above.

The National Health Service notes that those with age-related macular degeneration start to notice vision blurring from the center – rather than from the outsides. It can also make bright colors appear dull and straight lines seem wavy. In addition, some with the condition will see objects on a much smaller scale than they are in real life.

Again, age-related macular degeneration doesn’t cause any pain, nor will it change the appearance of one’s eyes. This is why fans haven’t noticed any changes in Dench’s icy blue peepers. You probably wouldn’t be able to pinpoint other famous faces who deal with the condition, and Dench isn’t the only one who does.

Comedienne Roseanne Barr has revealed that she has both macular degeneration and glaucoma – marked by damage to the eye’s optic nerve. As such, the one-time Roseanne star has said that she is going blind. But, like Dench, her diagnosis didn’t come out of nowhere. Barr’s father apparently also had the same eye conditions.

Not all types of macular degeneration are hereditary, but certain genes can predispose someone to developing the condition. In age-related cases, though, having a family history can predict who will see their vision blur over time. According to VisionAware, if a parent, child or sibling of yours has this type of macular degeneration, you’re three to four times more likely to receive the same diagnosis.

Luckily, though, not all age-related macular degeneration diagnoses come with total blindness at the end of them. Macular.org notes that 90 percent of patients with the condition fall into a category called “dry” AMD, in which the layers of their eye grow thinner and function less effectively. Vision aids can also assuage the symptoms in many cases.

The remaining 10 percent of age-related macular degeneration cases reportedly fall into the “wet” category. This condition sees the retina’s blood vessels weaken to the point that they leak fluids into that very small area. The liquid turns into scar tissue, which affects retinal function over time.

As with dry AMD, those with the wet variant do have therapeutic options that can slow down their sight loss. Namely, patients can visit their doctors for regular eye injections, which stop vision from getting worse in 90 percent of patients, according to the National Health Service. A light-based treatment called photodynamic therapy gets rid of the abnormal vessels that cause leakage and damage to the retina.

It’s actually unclear which type of AMD that Dench has. But in an interview with Surrey Life, the star said that she has “treatment every six weeks” for her case of macular degeneration. And, while experts know a lot about how to soothe symptoms and preserve sight for as long as possible, they’re not quite sure how Dench and others develop the condition in the first place.

There are a few known precursors to age-related macular degeneration, though. As we said, family history can predict whether or not a person will lose their vision down the line. High blood pressure, smoking and being overweight also have their links to AMD. Still, the exact root cause of the condition is unclear.

In Dench’s case, she has vowed not to let her age-related macular degeneration control or change her life. For one thing, time has been on her side as she dealt with the condition – it’s not a sudden and total blindness, after all. She told BBC Radio, “You do it gradually, so gradually you somehow find a way of learning.”

And Dench has made it clear that she doesn’t want the condition to define her time on screen, either. The acting legend admitted, “As long as it doesn’t get in the way of somebody seeing you in something and thinking, ‘I wonder how she’s managing?’ That would be appalling.”

We’d imagine that most fans have had no idea that Dench’s vision has deteriorated in the past decade or so. The actress has made a point to hide it, after all. She told The Hollywood Reporter in 2014, “I never want to make much of it, but it is difficult – very, very difficult.”

Don’t expect age-related macular degeneration – or any other reason – to slow down Dench any time soon, either. In the same interview, she scoffed at the question of when the curtain would close on her career. She said, “It’s the rudest word in my dictionary, ‘retire…’”

In fact, Dench has a long list of words she dislikes as descriptors of her. The star said, “‘Old’ is another one. I don’t allow that in my house. And being called ‘vintage.’ I don't want any of those old words.” What would the actress allow, then? The Oscar winner answered, “ I like ‘enthusiastic’ and I like the word ‘cut’ because that means you've finished the shot.”

Dench has even rejected her designation as a “national treasure” by some fans. She told The Guardian that she considered it a “terrible label” for being both “dusty” and “dreary.” Plus, she said, “It relegates me to being an 86-year-old woman. Whereas in my mind's eye I'm 6 feet and willowy and about 39.”

So, Dench will continue to grace our screens for as long as she can with a fervor that hasn’t waned with age or vision-related diagnoses. Keep your eyes peeled for her upcoming movies, including Off the Rails, scheduled for release in 2021, and Belfast, which remains in post-production as of April that year.