12 Actresses Who Don’t Mind Getting Older and Appreciate Everything They’ve Got

year ago

The fear of getting older and seeing the physical changes that come with it is very prevalent with people, and especially women. Getting older means that you stop being in control of your own body and the changes that happen around you. But once you understand that there is nothing you can do to control these changes, life will become much more entertaining.

1. Jane Fonda

East News, Chris Pizzello/Invision/East News

Jane Fonda has shared, about getting older, that “Turning 85 isn’t any different than turning 84 or turning 86 will be. I’m seriously in the middle of ’old.’ But once you’re inside of it, as opposed to looking at it from the outside, it’s not all that scary.”

She added that “When you get to be my age, you better be aware of the amount of time that is behind you, as opposed to in front of you. I mean, that’s just realistic.” She concluded by saying that she is not afraid “of going” when the time comes.

2. Sally Field

Courtesy Everett Collection/Everett Collection/East News, Willy Sanjuan/Invision/East News

Sally Field is in her 70s, and as she shared, “I’m an old woman. 70 is old, and that’s OK. I’ve gathered strength behind my years, I owned them, I’ve earned them, I’ve deserved them, and I have a right to have them. And I don’t like my neck, I don’t like a lot of things, but it’s OK, it’s OK. Behind my years, I have a value that doesn’t come when you’re 50 or 40 or 30 or 20, it doesn’t come until you’ve been in that saddle for a number of years.”

More recently, and while promoting her new movie 80 for Brady, Field said that “You’re never too old for the next chapter.”

3. Cameron Diaz

AF Archive/Graham Whitby Boot/Mary Evans Picture Library/East News, © camerondiaz / Instagram

Diaz’s idea about aging changed a lot after she became a mom at the age of 47. As she said, “I don’t care. Literally, the last thing I think about on a daily basis—like maybe not at all during the day—is what I look like. Twice a month, if I’m lucky, I’ll be like, ‘Oh, I better put this on. One time works, right?’ Like, is that all I have to do?”

It seems that aging is not on her mind at all, and she is just enjoying life. “I’m looking forward to all the aspects of growth to come in my 50s. I’m working on building my muscle mass, so I’ll have it as my hormones change.”

4. Drew Barrymore

Mary Evans/AF Archive/Graham Whitby Boot./East News, © drewbarrymore / Instagram

Barrymore is one of the most outspoken women in Hollywood when it comes to aging and not having any plastic surgery or procedures. “I’ve never messed with my face. I don’t want to fight nature. I’m raising 2 daughters, and we were raised in an industry where it was desired to drink off the fountain of youth, and I just never subscribed to it.”

“I think because I’m so rebellious that I saw all of that pressure, and I saw all of those women torturing themselves to look a certain way and I thought, ‘You miserable people,’” she added. “I just wanted to never be afraid of what life would do to me. I would love if there was some way we could let go and give in to the ride of life a little bit more.”

5. Viola Davis

MICHAEL GERMANA / STAR MAX, © violadavis / Instagram

Viola Davis doesn’t shy away from expressing her feelings about aging, saying, “I love my age. Even when I was younger, I’d look in the face of Helen Mirren and Jane Fonda and Cicely Tyson, and all I’d see was beauty. The industry is very image-conscious, then you have the societal pressure on people, then you have a perfect storm of there being a lot of age discrimination.”

She continues, “It’s about liberating yourself from all that. I just find that a lot of times with Hollywood, there is a huge shame factor with getting older, and it doesn’t help women, especially because our value is so often really placed in how we look, how well we cook, and how we raise our children.”

6. Halle Berry

Halle Berry has been in the spotlight for decades now, but it doesn’t look like society’s norms are catching up with her. “We’re all going to get older. Our skin is going to shrivel up, and we’re going to look different. I see things changing with my face and body, but I’ve never put all my eggs in that basket. I’ve always known that beauty is deeper than the physical body you’re walking around in.”

“I refuse to become someone who just tries to hold onto a youthful face and not embrace what’s most important about being beautiful—how you live your life, how you give back to others, how you connect to people, how you strengthen your mind, body, and soul and nourish yourself, how you give in a meaningful way of yourself. The most beautiful people have something radiating inside.”

7. Julianne Moore

Mary Evans/AF Archive/Graham Whitby Boot./East News, © juliannemoore / Instagram

Moore is one of the most accomplished and celebrated actresses in Hollywood, yet she is often asked about aging. “People have talked to me about aging for as long as I’ve been in the business. This idea that it’s something we have control over, or that there’s a good or bad way to do it, is simply not true. I actually think that when we really do feel aging is when we see it in relation to how much life we’ve lived.”

When it comes to beauty secrets, she revealed, “The first thing I do after waking up is drink 2 big glasses of water with chlorophyll in it. Someone told me a long time ago that it was really good for your skin, so I’ve always done it.”

8. Sharon Stone

Mary Evans/AF Archive/Graham Whitby Boot./East News, © sharonstone / Instagram

Stone, one of the most impressive women in the world, has talked candidly about aging and procedures. “There were periods during my super fame when I got Botox and filler and stuff, and then I had this massive stroke and a 9-day brain hemorrhage and I had to have over 300 shots of Botox and filler to make the one side of my face come up again.”

At one point, she was asked by a younger partner if she currently uses Botox, to which she replied, “It would probably be really good for your ego and mine if I did. I saw him one more time after that, and then he wasn’t interested in seeing me anymore. If you don’t see me for more than that, you’ll please find your way to the exit.”

9. Brooke Shields

Courtesy Everett Collection/Everett Collection/East News, © brookeshields / Instagram

Shields has talked about how people in her age group feel overlooked and how they stop being marketed in Hollywood. “It’s such an honor to be my age and be represented. I feel the magnitude of it more. There’s a knowledge that comes with age, and this feels less like a job and more like a privilege.”

She continues by saying, “I believe that it’s a misconception that women can’t be sexy over a certain age. The acceptance of our bodies comes at a later date. I live much more in my body now than I ever did. My body actually feels like it belongs to me. And I can’t say that about my youth.”

10. Sarah Jessica Parker

Robert Hepler/Everett Collection/East News, Kristin Callahan/Everett Collection/East News

Parker believes that women are so much more and have to offer a lot more than just their looks. “You want to be the person with the most experience who is a leader or relied upon as a professional, as a friend, as a wife, as a partner. That only comes with time spent living. So why are we not valuing that, instead of being focused on the fact that time spent living also produces wrinkles?”

“It’s not as if it doesn’t penetrate that other people have opinions about aging and my aging and the way I look, and the way other women look — I’m aware of that. When I’m out walking and have nothing to do, or I’m going to a bookstore, or I have some kind of freedom that’s based on choices that I’m getting to make — that’s when I feel most like myself.”

11. Andie MacDowell

GramercyPictures/Courtesy Everett Collection/East News, CJ Rivera/Invision/East News

The famous star has always been a representative of glamour, and now she enjoys that more than ever. “Always an honor to represent women of a certain age in a way that pushes the boundaries and shouts out that we deserve to be included, starred, and loved. I enjoy being glamorous more now than I ever have.”

“We evolve, and we age, and this is part of the process. Aging is not about losing your beauty. I think aging is something that you either have to decide that you like or you don’t. I like that people are comfortable with me getting older. I think that’s an important message for all of us that we get older, and we are beautiful.”

12. Susan Sarandon

Susan Sarandon is one of those women who look fabulous at whatever age she is or will get. Talking about her secrets, “If you want to age gracefully, you probably have to laugh a lot and get the normal amount of exercise, and eat well and stay out of the sun would be the main things. I like the gym. It’s really fun with all the boxers, and it’s fun to hit — it’s a workout.”

Are you afraid of aging, or are you okay with the idea that, at a certain point, your face and body won’t be as youthful as they used to be?

Preview photo credit Mary Evans/AF Archive/Graham Whitby Boot./East News, drewbarrymore / Instagram

Comments

Get notifications
Lucky you! This thread is empty,
which means you've got dibs on the first comment.
Go for it!

Related Reads