Overview
- Dench told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on Thursday that her long-standing age-related macular degeneration has progressed so she "can't be on stage, can't do a play, can't do a film" and "can't read".
- She described practical effects of her central vision loss, saying she cannot recognise faces, sometimes approaches the wrong person and could not see the interviewer’s face at all.
- Reports say Dench has used memory, help from friends and reported assistive tools such as text-to-speech glasses to adapt, but specific device reports are variably sourced and not uniformly confirmed.
- Dench is promoting a new memoir, Is It Too Late to Make a Run For It?, and will continue limited public appearances and radio work despite stepping back from acting.
- Medically, AMD damages the macula and blurs central vision without always causing total blindness, a difference that shapes how Dench and carers manage daily life and stage work going forward.