EXCLUSIVE: One of World's Most Revered Acting Icons, 90, Admits They're 'Losing the Plot' After Confessing to Being So Blind Lines Are Now Impossible to Read
Hollywood icon, Dame Judi Dench, has admitted worsening sight made memorizing lines nearly impossible.
Dec. 26 2025, Published 6:41 p.m. ET
Dame Judi Dench's advancing age and deteriorating eyesight have started to affect the 90-year-old's ability to manage daily tasks – leaving her fearing she is "losing the plot," RadarOnline.com can reveal.
The James Bond and renowned theater actress – who is now virtually blind – has given a disturbing update on her declining health, saying while she can still summon entire Shakespeare soliloquies word-perfect, she struggles with everyday memory.
Struggles with Everyday Memory
Judi admitted she feared she was losing the plot as her eyesight worsened.
In an interview ahead of her new Channel 4 documentary Judi Dench: Shakespeare, My Family and Me, the actress confessed even though she can recall reams of Shakespeare, she also admitted: "But I can't remember what I'm doing tomorrow."
And when asked if she fears "losing the plot", Dench poignantly confessed: "Oh yes, and I do now."
The documentary, directed by Harvey Lilley, explores Dench's lifelong relationship with Shakespeare, including new findings suggesting that her eight-times great grandfather, Anders Bille, may have met the playwright during a visit to the English court of James I in 1606.
Lilley described the experience of filming Dench as "unforgettable," saying he witnessed the actress "completely unrehearsed … perfectly deliver a complete soliloquy" from a play she last performed more than 40 years ago.
The Impact of Macular Degeneration
Judi stunned filmmakers by delivering an unrehearsed soliloquy word-for-word.
Dench, whose career spans more than six decades, first revealed in 2012 she had been diagnosed with age-related macular degeneration (AMD), a condition that progressively affects the central part of the vision.
She explained both her eyes are now in the "wet" AMD stage, which is beyond treatment.
"It's a crusher," Dench said. Despite the challenges, she has continued working across stage, film, and television, recently appearing in projects including the BBC's Hollow Crown.
A source close to Dench highlighted the bittersweet nature of her current work, by telling us: "She can still deliver Shakespeare flawlessly, but it's the day-to-day that's tricky.
"Reading scripts, seeing what's on TV, even walking through her home – all of that now requires assistance."
A Bittersweet Career Reflection
Judi recalled her family history while filming her new documentary.
Another observer added: "Watching Judi perform now, there's a sense of urgency and poignancy. She's facing limitations, but her memory for performance remains extraordinary. It's both moving and a little heartbreaking."
In her latest interview, Dench reflected on her career-long fascination with Shakespeare.
She joked if she met the Bard today, she would ask: "Are you writing another play? Is there a part for me in it? Some old bird sitting in the corner with a nice speech at some point, not too much. And could she drop off during the play?"
She also explored her family history in her new show on the playwright by noting it's "such an adventure to explore the possibility that an ancestor of mine might just have gotten within touching distance of my hero William Shakespeare."
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Judi shared how walking around her home now requires help.
Dench's professional debut came in 1957 with the Old Vic theater company, and she is perhaps best known to younger fans as M in the James Bond franchise following her seventh and final appearance in the franchise in the 2012 film Skyfall.
Dench has described her eye condition as leaving her peering through a "fog."
She has also said she has had to have people read her scripts to her before performing.
Sources said even as her eyesight fails, Dench continues to embody the grace, humor, and precision that have made her one of the world's most beloved actresses.
