Dame Judi Dench‘s illustrious and legendary career may be coming to a premature close due to her struggle with macular degeneration. After a decade of managing the condition, it’s progressed to a point that it’s more than just a hindrance. During a visit to “The Graham Norton Show,” Dench revealed learning new roles is essentially impossible.
Almost worse is that the prolific actress is possessed of a photographic memory. Being able to remember something completely based on sight allowed Dench to recall her lines with perfect clarity. Unfortunately, macular degeneration has robbed her of her ability to see. Thus robbing her of being able to use her advanced recall.
For a time, Dench was able to work around it. “You find a way of just getting about and getting over the things that you find very difficult,” she told The Guardian. “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.” Unfortunately, having to adjust to repetition just hasn’t given Dench the edge she wishes for.
Being unable to see has also made it difficult for Judi to find her marks. While performing “The Winter’s Tale” opposite Kenneth Branagh in 2015, he informed her that she wasn’t standing where she should. “I rely on people to tell me!” she says. That performance has (to date) been her last, as the difficulties are too hard to navigate for the 88 year old icon.
“I need to find a machine that not only teaches me my lines but also tells me where they appear on the page,” Dench said. “I used to find it very easy to learn lines and remember them.” So, to any organizations for disability technologies, get cracking!
