Judi Dench Discusses Adapting to AMD as She Keeps Working
She reads scripts in a 22-point font and takes a friend to the movies to tell her what’s going on, but she has no plans to slow down anytime soon.
When Dame Judi Dench travelled to India to film the 2015 sequel The Second Best Marigold Hotel, she relied on old friends like Maggie Smith to help her get around. Dench’s Age-related Macular Degeneration (AMD), diagnosed in 2012, was making it hard for her to handle steps and other low-vision challenges.
Dench’s mother had AMD, and the actress has the wet form, which she says requires her to have treatments every six weeks and makes coping with daily life—as well as her job—difficult. But like many people who experience vision loss with AMD, Dench is finding ways to adapt and keep doing the things that she loves to do.
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