Battling to save my eyesight - Judi Dench

London: Veteran actress Dame Judi Dench, who has been diagnosed with macular degeneration which can lead to blindness, says she is battling to save her eyesight. The James Bond star, 77, said her sight is already so bad she cannot see faces in front of her and friends have to read scripts to her so she can learn her lines, reported Daily Mail.

"I can't read scripts any more because of the trouble with my eyes. And so somebody comes in and reads them to me, like telling me a story. It's usually my daughter or my agent or a friend and actually I like that, because I sit there and imagine the story in my mind."

"I've got what my mother had, macular degeneration, which you get when you get old. I had wet in one eye and dry in the other and they had to do these injections and I think it's arrested it. I hope so," Dench said.

The actress also said she is determined not to let the condition beat her and hopes recent treatment has stopped the progressive decline.

"The most distressing thing is in a restaurant in the evening I can't see the person I'm having dinner with. Actually, what I miss are people corpsing on stage."

"I know there might be something going on but sometimes I can't see it and that infuriates me as I think I'm really missing out on something. But you get used to it. I've got lenses and glasses and things and very bright light helps," Dench added.

Posted in: Hollywood