Dame Judi Dench believes losing her eyesight has reduced her nerves when she performs live.

The 79-year-old 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.' ''

The 'Philomena' star has spent the last few years in film but admits she misses working on stage and has hinted that a return to theatre may be in the pipeline.

She explained: ''My daughter is on tour at the moment and we went the other night and sat there in the theatre and I thought, 'Gosh I miss that.'

''That whole thing of getting ready and going on and it being slightly different from the last night, slightly better or slightly worse. I really miss that.''