In This Section
TV Guide Spotlight
Also on TVGuide.com
|
« Body Talk: Inside Hollywood's Obsession With Beauty
50ish (and Up) and Fabulous!
Meryl Streep by Larry Busacca/WireImage.com
In Part 4 of TVGuide.com's new Body Talk series, we celebrate stars who are proving that you don't have to be young to be beautiful.
The pressure to be perfect in Hollywood isn't too discriminating — most celebs get it most of the time. But as people start to get older, they tend to become a bit more wrinkly, their skin a bit droopier... and they generally don't look like they did at 30. Well, that may happen in real life — but what about on television and in the movies?
Some of our favorite TV stars are showing just how gorgeous aging gracefully can be. (Whether that's with some assistance or as a result of healthy living and good genes, we're not speculating.) And one of the nicest things about them? They're playing characters who are... actually their age. Donald Sutherland, 72, and Jill Clayburgh, 63, for example, are standouts as Tripp and Letitia, the parents of the dysfunctional yet successful Darling clan on one of this season's best guilty pleasures, Dirty Sexy Money. And Kim Cattrall, 51, who returns as hot-to-trot Samantha in the highly anticipated Sex and the City movie, proves that just because a star is over 50 hardly means she's lost her appeal.
"When you're a young girl, you play the girlfriend," Sigourney Weaver, 57, has said to People. "By 40, you play real women who've become more who they are." Which is not to say that the great parts are always so forthcoming. In an interview with Larry King, Goldie Hawn, 62, said, "I've turned a lot of parts down, but they're not very interesting.... It's a narrower field as you get older."
Just how difficult is it for aging actors and actresses to find good roles in Hollywood? "They should be able to do so, but I know that is not usually the case," says TVGuide.com reader BlueeyedSara. "[Though] Meryl Streep seems to be doing well." In fact, the 58-year-old Streep, who is the most nominated actress in Academy Award history (with 14 nods, in case you're counting), told O magazine, "I have friends who are dead already. So why would I complain about getting older?"
Gorgeous Sela Ward faced Hollywood's ageism early on. She was up for a role in a James Bond movie, but the producers said they couldn't take her; they really wanted the Sela Ward of 10 years before. "I was only 38," Ward, who's now 51, told the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. "I felt young and sexy. But in that moment, I understood why a woman might feel driven to lie about her age or get a face-lift. It may sound crazy, but that moment changed my life."
As for how seemingly "perfect" Hollywood stars make you feel about aging, in our Body Talk poll, 62 percent of readers said that they know that stars represent an unrealistic image. Most of the rest of you, 35 percent, said that those "perfect" stars don't affect you at all, while only three percent said, "Um, where's the plastic surgeon's office?"
For aging stars, the stakes have recently gotten even higher, thanks to high-definition cameras. "The facial imperfections and aging signs of TV personalities are now visible to the naked eye," HDTV expert Phillip Swann has said. "Celebrities can no longer shield their shortcomings with favorable lighting, heavy makeup and the fuzzy picture of analog TV."
The precise picture of HD can be mighty cruel. William Shatner, 76, wears plenty of makeup on Boston Legal, but it's very visible in hi-def, Swann says. He also believes that NBC's Today show uses filters on its cameras to hide the wrinkles on 54-year-old Meredith Vieira's face from HD viewers.
Three lovely ladies who are turning 50 this year — Jamie Lee Curtis, Andie MacDowell and Michelle Pfeiffer — prove that age is just a state of mind, no matter what kind of camera they're shot with. In fact, some actresses are even finding new life in their careers as they get older. Helen Mirren, 62, took home an Oscar last year for The Queen — and became a senior sex symbol. Sally Field, 61, is winning raves — and awards — for her role in Brothers & Sisters. "Everyone in Hollywood becomes a victim of age. That's no big revelation," Field told the Contra Costa (Calif.) Times. "The only way to keep going in this business is to keep finding new places in yourself, and as you get older, the places keep changing."
October Road's Laura Prepon — still a youngster at 27 — sees some of these graceful agers as role models. "I look at Helen Mirren, who is stunning, or Meryl Streep… these beauties," Prepon tells TVGuide.com. "You can't stop the age clock. Everybody gets older, and if you're constantly fighting your age, you're going to have a pretty unhappy life. You just have to embrace it." — Nina Hämmerling Smith
What's your take? Does 50 not mean what it used to, in terms of looking "old"? Do stars who choose to age naturally have an advantage or a disadvantage? And just how closely are you looking at those wrinkles when you watch your favorite shows in HDTV?
More in the Body Talk series:
• Photo gallery: Is 50 the New 30?
• Nip/Tuck Isn't Just a TV Show
• Photo gallery: Nip/Tuck Isn't Just a TV Show
• The Skinny on Hollywood's Unreal Ideal
• Photo gallery: The Skinny on Hollywood's Unreal Ideal
• TVGuide.com's Top 20 Beauty Scandals and Stories of 2007
• Photo gallery: Top 10 Hollywood Beauty Scandals & Stories of 2007
• Photo gallery: Top 10 TV Beauty Scandals & Stories of 2007
• Special Preview and Polls
Coming Soon in Body Talk:
• Getting Red-carpet-ready with the Stars
• A Q&A with TV Guide Network's own red-carpet queen, Lisa Rinna
Explore the rituals Hollwyood stars go through to stay looking young in The Black Book of Hollywood Beauty Secrets from Amazon.com.
|
TVGuide Links:
|
|
|
|
Jan 2, 2008 6:11 PM
|
|
I have to agree with the assessment of most of the folks mentioned (although, heavy makeup or not, Shatner looks great) but the mere idea of Laura Prepon, who can't act her way out of a paper bag, comparing herself to Mirren and Streep, in any capacity, is laughable.
|
|
Jan 3, 2008 2:47 AM
|
I'd rather see actors who have some mileage on their features, because they look more convincing to me in most of their roles. Plus, men frankly look even more handsome as they age.
Donald Sutherland, as well as several other actors, is a case in point. He looks even better now that he's older. Dann Florek, too. The same can be said for Richard Belzer, whose glossy black hair looked great as it grayed. The man looks stellar with silver hair. Men gain character and I feel women gain a certain credibility, too.
I don't think about what these people look like with the advance of HDTV, even though I notice more how sets are being lighted. (For the longest time, the sets of L&O: SVU were so incredibly dark, I wondered if Wolf Films was paying their power bills on time. Kidding, of course, but the darker lighting does not help anyone's appearance.) The only time I'd start looking at an actor's appearance with a critical eye would be if something in the show jarred me out of the moment.
At that point, well, I probably would notice the amount of makeup used on William Shatner. However, his work on "Boston Legal" makes sure I'm never looking too close.
|
|
Jan 3, 2008 4:57 AM
|
It was a casting choice in a Batman movie a few years ago that opened my eyes to ageism in H'wood - when Rene Rousso was replaced by Nicole Kidman as the female lead opposite Val Kilmer b/c Rousso was too old. She and Kilmer are the same age!
I also remember when Sela Ward was passed over for that Bond movie. Thing is, the Bond films are aimed at guys, yet I know more men who would even today prefer Sela Ward over some of the starlets. Although I dont think it's the same film (bear with me, I haven't had coffee yet this morning) I quit being a Bond fan when they cast 21-year-old Denise Richards as a nuclear physicist.
Unfortunately, age does matter in this society. I'm 43 but I am often mistaken for being in my 30's. When someone finds out how old I am, their whole demeanor towards me changes.
|
|
Jan 3, 2008 7:42 AM
|
The idea that all we have to offer the world is what we look like is so ridiculous. Looks never stay the same. Hollywood and the media have made something so superficial way too important, particularly for women.
Fixing something that's way out of whack, like a broken nose or cleft palate, makes sense, but surgery for the sake of youth is crazy. Youth is temporary, beauty is not!
|
|
Jan 3, 2008 9:12 AM
|
|
It doesn't bother me (though I don't have HDTV) as long as they're playing parts that are for their age (or close to) and dressing the same way. It's when I see an obviously older actor playing the role of a much younger one in clothes they should have stopped wearing 15-20 years ago that it bothers me. Can't think of anyone in particular, but there is one soap star I love (who shall remain nameless) that wears these young, sexy, cut down to there dresses on a frame that's not necessarily older BUT far heavier than the clothes should be made for, that I get very very sad, even though I love this actress. My point is I'm happy for them as they are, think it should be that way, rather than what their rose colored glasses would like them to be.
|
|
Jan 3, 2008 11:22 AM
|
I find it amusing whenever the discussion is about people who look younger than their age, and yet so many are criticized if they resort to surgery to please the people in Lalaland. There are actresses you didn't mention who I think are holding up very well also - like Anjelica Huston (56) or Ellen Barkin (53). I guess having great genes is a valuable commodity, but we knew that already.
What I find really annoying are the older (I mean over 40) men who are constantly paired in movies and on TV with 24 year old woman. It's refreshing to see a 50 year old woman cast married opposite a 50-60 year old man. It's balanced and believable.
|
|
Jan 3, 2008 1:32 PM
|
|
One of the most attractive men on tv is over 50 -- Victor Garber. I'd much rather see a gorgeous older man who can truly act than some young 'pretty' boy who got hired bec of hard pecs.
|
|
Jan 3, 2008 2:09 PM
|
|
You forgot someone I consider very well aged - Mark Harmon. He was good looking as a young man, and is getting even better with age.
|
|
Jan 3, 2008 3:03 PM
|
Male actors over 50 have a much easier time finding roles than women of the same age. Harrison Ford is still considered a dashing leading man despite pushing 70 (and looking it). And, as CinderAngelkc points out, these old farts always get a young, nubile romantic interest, while older actresses play divorcees, widows, grandmothers and other decidedly unromantic roles.
Why can't people accept older women dating younger men in TV and film without calling them cougars or cradle robbers? While many male actors experience a rejuvenated career as they age (Sean Connery, Jack Nicholson), older women get shut out. Meryl Streep and Sally Field are the rare exceptions. Can you imagine a stunner like Sela Ward being called old at 38? They didn't say that about Harrison Ford at the same age.
|
|
Jan 3, 2008 5:08 PM
|
You forgot one of the most luminous leading ladies on television today. Mary McDonnell absolutely shines playing President Laura Roslin on Battlestar Galactica. Her role is age appropriate and she shows both class and grace among a wonderful ensemble of actors of various ages. In particular, her chemistry opposite Edward James Olmos is undeniable; seeing a mature relationship such as there's onscreen is nice change of pace from the bed hopping of Gray's Anatomy.
And even though the vast majority of the female cast are in their 20's and 30's (including super model Tricia Helfer), Mary's beauty is never undermined and her skill as an actress is unquestionable.
|
|
Jan 3, 2008 6:58 PM
|
Richard Dean Anderson is an excellent example of someone who is fabulous at 50 (actually, coming up on 58!).
Morjana
|
|
Jan 4, 2008 3:07 AM
|
Richard Dean Anderson is an excellent example of someone who is fabulous at 50 (actually, coming up on 58!).
Morjana
|
|
Jan 4, 2008 3:08 AM
|
Don't forget about Diane Keaton and Mark Harmon. 
|
|
Jan 6, 2008 5:06 PM
|
|
Susan Sarandon is over 60 now and is a) gorgeous, b) a talented actress, and c) still working steadily. She has had, and continues to have, a great career.
|
|
Jan 6, 2008 8:02 PM
|
|
|
