She has enjoyed a glittering film career for 60 years. But has Dame Judi Dench acted in her last movie?

The star, who struggles to see because of age-related macular degeneration, was asked last week if she has any upcoming films.

“No no, I can’t even see,” she replied to a journalist at the Chelsea Flower Show. The 89-year-old’s last film was Spirited in 2022. She has previously said how her sight on set was affected and that she had to memorise scripts.

Asked to clarify whether these comments meant Dame Judi had indeed called time on her illustrious movie career, her agent declined to elaborate further. “Judi has nothing more to add than all she mentioned to the journalist,” they said.

In a previous interview with Louis Theroux for the BBC, Dame Judi said se was determined to not let the condition rob her of her career completely. “I’ve got to teach myself a new way of learning,” she told Theroux. “I’ve realised that I need to know where it is on the page. I’ll teach myself a way. I know I will, as long as I don’t trip over doing it.”

Speaking at the annual event in Chelsea, Dame Judi did however say she was as busy as ever with projects in the pipeline. “Our book has come out (Shakespeare: The Man Who Pays The Rent), we’re going to Cheltenham Book Fair and then I’m going to do three shows with Gyles Brandreth,” she said.

Dame Judi’s first acting role in film was in The Third Secret in 1964. She went on to star in films including Shakespeare in Love, which won her an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress, as well as playing the role of M in eight James Bond films.

She revealed this month how she almost gave up on her film career after a director said she wasn’t attractive enough to be on screen. “I was told I would never do it,” the actor said. “The director, he said, ‘I’m sorry,’ but he said. ‘No you haven’t got the face for film.’ “I didn’t expect anything more,” she added.

But she went on to has appear in almost 100 films and has been nominated for eight Academy Awards. Despite her success, Dench admitted she was “frightened” to take over the role of M in the James Bond franchise from Bernard Lee in 1995.

“I felt great responsibility,” she said. Dench’s seventh Bond film, Skyfall, is the second highest grossing film in British box office history.