Olivia Coleman "Held Back Tears" While Voicing Short Film On Dementia

Olivia Coleman has said that she "held back tears", as she recently voiced a short film, raising awareness about dementia.

The actress lent her voice to the animated short film, Changes The Ending, which shows how this dreadful illness can leave people worried and frightened, as well as having a profound impact in families. 

Coleman is helping Alzheimer's victims UK show how dementia can deny people their "happily ever after". The Oscar winner also recently starred in the film, The Father, where she played the daughter of an Alzheimer's victim who refuses assistance. 

"As soon as I heard about the concept behind Alzheimer’s Research UK’s campaign, I wanted to be involved and support their search for a cure", Coleman said recently. "Dementia devastates lives and wreaks havoc on far too many families across the UK and around the world". 

Coleman who also starred in The Crown, and Peep Show, also spoke about her mother, who cared for people suffering with dementia as a nurse for 45 years. 

"My mum was a nurse for 45 years and, as a young girl, I got to meet some of the people she cared for who were living with dementia", Olivia Coleman explained. "It was so upsetting to see how the condition had robbed people of their independence, and the impact it had on their loved ones". 

The actress also added that her great-grandmother was another person who suffered at the hands of this disease. 

"My great-grandmother died with the condition and other loved ones close to my family also succumbed to it, so it's had a direct impact", she continued. "I was proud to lend my voice to this campaign – it lays bare the realities of dementia in such a powerful and thought-provoking way". 

"I was holding back tears narrating the film as dementia destroys people’s 'happily ever afters’, and we must do everything we can to end the pain and distress it causes". 

A YouGov survey was also conducted with this campaign, which discovered that only 49% of 2,162 people could name memory loss as a side effect for dementia, while 22% saying that had no idea how this illness affects people.

It also emerged that 21% knew that it can impinge on a person's ability to perform daily tasks, with 12% saying that dementia causes people to lose their independence. 

Dementia is a condition which can lead to memory loss, changes in personality, hallucinations, losing the ability to communicate, becoming incontinent. It can also impact a person's ability to eat, wash or dress themselves. 

64,000 people in Ireland currently live with dementia, with that number expected to increase to 150,000 by 2050.