Dame Judi Dench, 79, believes losing her eyesight has reduced her nerves when she performs live.
The actress suffers from macular degeneration, an age-related eye condition which leads to gradual loss of vision, and has found it allows her to relax a lot quicker because she can’t see the audience.
Speaking about her live performance at the Proms in 2010, she told the Daily Mirror newspaper: “Fortunately, now I can’t see very clear, I used to be able to see every member of the audience and exactly what they were doing. I can’t do that anymore which in a way is a wonderful blessing. I didn’t realise it was a blessing until I went on that night at the Proms.
“There was like a sea of corn in front of me. And I looked up and thought, ‘there is nobody upstairs’.” - BANG Showbiz