WENN

Judi Dench is uncertain about whether she'll live to see theaters re-open following the Covid-19 shutdown.

The actress, 85, spoke to Britain's Channel 4 News on Wednesday, and admitted she was uncertain how the theater industry would recover in the U.K. without help from the government, as live shows remain off the cards amid the pandemic.

While restaurants, pubs and cinemas are among the venues set to re-open in the U.K. from 4 July, theaters have been ordered to hold off staging shows for the foreseeable future, due to the ongoing threat of coronavirus.

Highlighting the extent of the financial strain venues like The Old Vic in London are experiencing, she commented: "This is what we rely on. It's a desperate feeling.

"Will they ever open again? I don't know. Certainly, I'm sure, not in my lifetime," the Artemis Fowl actress mused.

When asked how the theater community could be aided, Judi insisted: "I'm not saying that it should be more prioritised than anything else. It's a very serious effect on all of us."

"If the theaters now close and become dark, I don't know when we're going to get them back," the Cats star added. "I can't see how it's going to recover."