Dame Judi Dench is battling to save her eyesight after she was diagnosed with a disease which can lead to blindness.
The 77 year old acting legend has been receiving treatment for age-related condition macular degeneration, which her mother also suffered, and she now relies on family and friends to read scripts to her.
Dench tells Britain's Daily Mirror, "I can't read scripts anymore 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 ma 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.
"The most distressing thing is in a restaurant in the evening I can't see the person I'm having dinner with."
The Shakespeare in Love star is learning to live with the condition and she is determined to carry on making movies for as long as possible.
She adds, "You get used to it. I've got lenses and glasses and things and very bright light helps. I can do a crossword if it's bright sunshine but if a cloud comes out the next minute I can't see anything.
"As long as there is a possibility of working I'm not going to retire because if I retire nothing will work anymore and it's hard enough as it is."