Dame Judi Dench is sick of people asking her when she’s going to retire.
Although she will turn 80 this year, Dench insists she has no intention of calling time on her career and is disappointed with the ageist attitude of society.
Speaking at the screening of her new BBC One TV show ‘Esio Trot’ – in which she stars with Dustin Hoffman – she said: "It drives me spare when people say, ‘Are you going to retire?’ Or, ‘Don’t you think it’s time to put your feet up?’ Or tell me my age"
"I loathe it; I don’t want to be told that I’m too old to do something. I want to try it first and then, if I don’t succeed, then I can be told I can’t do it. Otherwise you get to a certain age and it’s, ‘Oh well you mustn’t do that because you could have a fall or you can’t learn lines or you can’t see.’ Let me have a go. Let us all have a go."
the ‘Skyfall’ star – who was diagnosed with macular degeneration in early 2012, an eye condition that damages your sight – insists mature actors have a lot to offer the industry and insists ageism is just something that is thrust upon you.
The Oscar winner added: "Age is just a number imposed on you. The only time I got really upset [about ageing] was when I was 40. But after that it’s the old thing that everybody says, ‘You’re as old as you feel.’ "
Judi Dench ‘loathes’ retirement questions
