Dame Judi Dench fears many theatres will not reopen "in [her] lifetime".
Dame Judi Dench
The 85-year-old actress is concerned about the UK arts industry amid the coronavirus pandemic as even within the next wave of lockdown easing, venues are still unable to stage live performances, because she thinks the situation is growing increasingly "desperate" any many places won't survive.
She told Channel 4 News: "When you hear that The Old Vic is in trouble, when you hear that the Nuffield in Southampton is in trouble, and Leicester and Nottingham.
"This is what we rely on and it's a desperate feeling.
"And when will they ever open again? I don't know, certainly, I'm sure, not in my lifetime.
"I don't know, I can't see how it's going to recover.
"It's not as if we don't bring a great deal of money to the economy because I think, last year alone, we brought in 1.3 billion into the economy. So, it is necessary.
"Of course there are lots of other necessary things. I'm not saying that it should be more prioritised than anything else, but it just is going to be a very serious effect on all of us."
Even though social distancing measures are being cut from 2m to "one metre plus", the 'Skyfall' actress doesn't think it will make a difference to theatres being able to open their doors.
She added: "If the theatres now close and become dark, I don't know when we're going to get them back.
"We do need a big injection. You can't run a theatre with people sitting six seats apart. You can't run a theatre when it is a quarter full."
Meanwhile, during the lockdown period, Judi has joined her grandson Sam Williams in TikTok videos and she admitted the viral dances have "saved" her.
She said: "It saved my life, I know nothing about TikTok. Sam is the person who is technically minded and who has all the ideas.
"He made me do it. I had to rehearse, I have rehearsed all his moves, it just seemed that comes naturally."
Tagged in Dame Judi Dench