Veteran
actress
Dame
Judi
Dench,
who
will
turn
80
next
month,
says
she
is
tired
of
people
telling
her
that
she
is
too
old
to
act.
"I
don't
want
to
be
told
I'm
too
old
to
try
something.
I
want
to
see
for
myself
if
I
can't
do
it
rather
than
be
told
you
might
have
a
fall
or
you
can't
learn
your
lines.
Let
me
have
a
go.
Let
us
all
have
a
go," Dench
said
during
a
screening
of
the
BBC's
'Esio
Trot'.
Dench
said
the
only
time
her
age
bothered
her
was
when
she
turned
40
but
since
then
she
has
come
to
consider
it
just
a
number.
Dench
is
appearing
alongside
Dustin
Hoffman
in
a
BBC
adaptation
of
Roald
Dahl's
Esio
Trot
this
Christmas.
"Age
is
a
number,
it's
something
imposed
on
you...
It
drives
me
absolutely
spare
when
people
say
'are
you
going
to
retire,
isn't
it
time
you
put
your
feet
up'
or
tell
me
(my)
age," she
said.
"The
only
time
I
got
really
upset
was
when
I
was
40,
for
some
reason.
I
got
really
upset
when
I
was
40,
and
I
was
alright
after
that.
It's
that
old
thing:
you
are
only
as
old
as
you
feel.
It's
not
to
do
with
age;
it's
something
to
do
with
inside.
It's
the
engine."
The
79-year-old
was
diagnosed
with
macular
degeneration,
which
can
lead
to
blindness,
several
years
ago
and
can
no
longer
read
her
own
scripts.
"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,"
said
Judi
Dench.
Well,
who
can
forget
the
strong
and
talented
'M'
in
last
Bond
release,
Skyfall.