Judi Dench: 'Retirement is not a word used in my house'

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Judi Dench

Judi Dench is refusing to retire.

The 86-year-old actress has no intention of slowing down and thinks if she gives up work, she might as well just give up on life too.

She said: "Retirement is not a word used in my house... You don't retire, for goodness sake! You might as well fall onto a shelf and lie down."

The star admitted the coronavirus pandemic has made her more emotional.

She told the Daily Mail's Baz Bamigboye: "I find that your emotions are much rawer. It's the uncertainty of not knowing how we're going to come out of it."

And Judi was delighted to get back to work last year on filmmaker Kenneth Branagh's upcoming movie Belfast, despite the various safety measures in place.

She said: "(It was) glorious... like suddenly being released from a cage."

However, because of her deteriorating eyesight, the veteran actress - who suffers from macular degeneration - admitted it was tough trying to figure out people's faces on set while everyone was wearing masks.

She quipped: "I kept going up to the wrong person, having a conversation, and they'd say, 'I'm not who you think I am.'"