In a world where youth is often considered the epitome of beauty, actress Andie MacDowell is shattering societal norms and embracing the ageing process.
During her recent appearance at the Cannes Film Festival, the 65-year-old Groundhog Day actress shared that she’s gotten “more comfortable” with herself as she gets older, telling People it’s time to end Hollywood’s double standards on men and women’s ageing beauty.
“Men are seen as really sexy when they start to get wrinkles,” she said.
“I like all the terms we use for older men. I want to hold onto those terms. I want to be debonair. Why not? What a beautiful term.
“We’ve been brainwashed, and it’s a psychological thing that we’ve bought into because we’ve been fed it for so long. We don’t allow ourselves to feel good about ourselves and we even perceive [older men] as sexy, because we’ve been taught this.”
Despite being a pro-ageing advocate, MacDowell did admit it took her some time to feel confident enough with her age. She famously gained widespread recognition in Hollywood for fearlessly embracing her natural, grey hair—an unconventional choice, particularly for women within the industry.
“There is this time period between 40 and 60 that I think women in the business can struggle because they don’t know what to do. They’ve been seen as one way, but they’re not really seen as what I am now,” she said.
“I was struggling and I’m much more comfortable with where I am right now. I love being an older woman. I really enjoy it. And it doesn’t feel less sexy.”
MacDowell then went on to explain that learning to embrace her age opened up the doors for more “complex older” roles onscreen.
“I don’t need to pretend that I’m young anymore because I’m not young, obviously,” she said.
“And I just think that’s going to help me and you have to dig in and make your characters more complex too. You have to struggle and fight with people to make them. You have to fight for what you know. I fight for what I know as an older woman, what I know to be true.”
In 2022, MacDowell spoke about embracing her natural hair and revealed her decision to go grey was simply because she wanted to look her age.
“People kept saying to me, ‘It’s not time,’ but I disagreed,” she told UK publication The Sunday Times.
“I was kowtowing to everybody else’s beliefs, but I truly want to be where I am and look my age.”
After being “strongly advised” not to grow out her locks, she took the plunge to go grey and was flooded with messages of positivity and support.
“‘I was relieved people weren’t cruel. They could have been mean to me. But everybody was very loving and kind and I was relieved because I really like it. I feel more comfortable,” she said.
MacDowell first started referring to herself as a “silver fox” in February 2021 after choosing to grow out her grey hair during quarantine.