Dame Judi Dench says she will never slow down or retire

Dame Judi Dench attends the European premiere of the film Belfast during the 65th BFI London Film Festival at The Royal Festival Hall last year. Photo / Getty Images

Dame Judi Dench says she has no plans to slow down or ever retire.

The 87-year-old actress finds it harder to learn her scripts these days because of her failing eyesight caused by macular degeneration, but she insisted there will always be a way to work around her difficulties.

She exclaimed: "Slowing down? How dare you! How dare you. I'm slowing down only in that I can't see to read. But I will find a way."

Despite a string of awards over the years - including 10 Baftas, one Oscar from eight nominations, and seven Oliviers - the Belfast actress insisted she never takes her success for granted.

Dame Judi Dench attends the Royal World Premiere of Skyfall at the Royal Albert Hall in London in 2012. Photo / Getty Images

She told the Sunday Times magazine: "No, no. You can do something that is a success and then for the next thing you could go a*** over t**. You can't ever take it for granted and it's right that we shouldn't."

Judi recalled going for an audition for a film in the 1960s, a time when she was largely known for her stage work and the occasional TV appearance, and the director told her she would "never" make it on the big screen.

Declining to name the film-maker, she said: "He was perfectly nice. But at the end he said, 'You'll never make a film. You have the wrong face.' And I said that is fine, I don't like film anyway. I want to go back to the theatre."

The Skyfall actress admitted she rarely watches any of her films because she'd just get frustrated by her performance.

Daniel Craig and Dame Judi Dench in the film Skyfall. Photo / @Film_London, Twitter

She said: "The thing about film is you do not get another go at it. There are a lot of films of mine that I have never seen and I don't want to because I would just be irritated. You can't [get the chance to] make it better!"