ONE of the UK’s best-known and most loved actresses, Dame Judi Dench, has always been open about her age-related macular degeneration and its effects on her professional life. Due to it, she has to memorise lines orally before going on site.

Speaking to the Sunday Mirror recently, Dench revealed that her eyesight has significantly deteriorated to the point that she is no longer able to see on film sets.

“I can’t see on a film set any more, and I can’t see to read,” said the actress.

Widely known for playing M in eight James Bond films, Dench claims that she “just deals with it” by continuing to try and find workarounds.

“It’s difficult if I have any length of a part. I haven’t yet found a way. Because I have so many friends who will teach me the script. But I have a photographic memory,’ she continued.

Despite the setback, Dench has recently appeared in films like Belfast, for which she received an Oscar nomination.

She continues to work, she said, because “I have an irrational fear of boredom. That’s why I now have this tattoo that says ‘Carpe diem’. That’s what we should live by.”

She also spoke to the Mirror about her partner, the conservationist David Mills, whom she met in 2010.

She said, “I’ve had many, many good friends, but it’s been very unexpected to have somebody who is as caring as my partner, David. Someone to be able to share things with. I feel very lucky indeed. And to laugh with somebody is terribly important”.