Julianne Moore was just named president of the 79th Venice Film Festival jury. I don’t know a lot about the industry but prestigious positions at these film festivals seem to carry a lot of weight. They’re both a bragging point and probably a great way to spend the festival. And Julianne has certainly earned her due in Hollywood so congrats to her! She gave an interview to the Sunday Times, which is behind a paywall so I didn’t read the whole thing. But it sounded like a catch up with Julianne about her career and moving forward. Julianne also spoke about beauty, because she’s promoting a new partnership and women in Hollywood are always asked about their beauty. Julianne, 61, talked about how she views her looks now that she’s older. Julianne said she spends less time thinking about such things. Not that she doesn’t care, but she’s learned to accept that there’s only so much she can do about it.
Julianne Moore has found that the older she gets, the less consumed she is with her looks.
The Oscar-winning actress, 61, says that the movement away from focusing on her appearance came when she truly became engrossed in the people and the world around her.
“I think it’s because you have other things that you are interested in, such as family, relationships, work or your community. Being myopic about the way you look recedes,” Moore told the Sunday Times. “I don’t think it goes away entirely, I don’t think there is a person in the world who couldn’t care less; everybody cares somewhat. But the degree to which you are interested in that, and the fruitlessness of that, becomes apparent as you get older.”
In the past, Moore has called it “a privilege to continue to age.” She also discussed her feelings about maturing, and her distaste for the phrase “aging gracefully.”
“There’s so much judgement inherent in the term ‘aging gracefully’,” she told As If magazine last year, Yahoo Entertainment previously reported. “Is there an ungraceful way to age? We don’t have an option of course. No one has an option about aging, so it’s not a positive or a negative thing, it just is.”
I understand what Julianne is getting at. Like she said, it’s not that people stop caring about their appearance, but I, for one, have become much more accepting of what’s looking back at me in the mirror. Currently I’m trying to shed menopause/pandemic weight and it’s slow going. In the past I would flip out. But now I accept it’s going to take me longer and I focus more on getting stronger and cleaning up my diet. Unfortunately, Julianne’s comment about “fruitlessness” is true, there are limits to how far back someone can turn the clock and still look like themselves.
Julianne also discussed wanting to get rid of her freckles as a kid. She said she felt like the only one who had them. I just had a smattering across my nose and cheeks, but it seemed like none of the other kids did. My freckles bugged me until my mom told me they were “Irish kisses.” We’re American but but both my parents lineage is Scots-Irish and my mom was always reaching back to the Celts to explain stuff. She claimed that angels kissed Irish faces because they found them so beautiful, and every kiss left a freckle. It might sound cheesy, but it worked when I was in grade school. And clearly those angels adored Julianne. Luckily, she does too, now. That’s another beautiful part of aging, rediscovering what makes you unique.
Photo credit: Avalon Red and Instagram
I agree.
I mean, I know I can’t say for the future, but I am now 34 and I noticed my face is different, it’s starting to show I am older than before. 20 y.o. me would lose it. And now it’s just – ah, whatever. I do my best but there is only so much you can do.
I know I am not nearly old, but the difference is visible and it’s the first time I could see what my true reaction to it is.
If you have a tragic accident tonight & your face looks different, YOU will still be who you are. Keep it in mind. Surgery can only do SO MUCH, keep that in mind too.
She makes some good points but I hate how women have to talk about this. Where are the aging questions to Leo D or Brad Pitt?
You have no idea what the future will bring.
I had freckles that I hated as a kid too. Gotta say, all the beauty YouTubers giving themselves fake freckles made me feel like they’re prettier than I ever did as a child!
I’m sorry, but 61? She’s absolutely beautiful.
The photo of her showing off her freckles isn’t just pretty, it’s effin adorable
For the very first time in my life I can now leave the house without makeup on. I had a southern mother who always told me things like, “You look pale, or your face is shiny” Very hypercritical and I internalized all of it and never felt ENOUGH (See JLC ARTICLE! ) But my husband MADE A POINT to propose to me in the morning with no makeup as he wanted me to know he loved me just as i was, and that love is so healing along with age?! It’s just the greatest. I still love to play with makeup, but HAVING to do a full face to go to the grocery store will never happen again and hallelujah. I am enough.
Growing old(er) is really a blessing seeing how life can be so short. I never understood age shaming. But alas, it happens.
I turn 50 next year and I still can’t believe it. Time flew by. I’m no longer the youngest person at work or even in many of my social circles. I’m okay with that. I have a few grey hairs springing up and I’m not sure how I feel about them. Right now it’s funny and I wonder how I’ll look when it becomes more noticeable. When I look in the mirror I now see my mother’s face. I never ever looked like her. Now I can see we are actually related, lol. I do worry about getting older but not how I look. I’m more focused on how I feel in my own skin.
Moore has always been beautiful. I didn’t realize she had so many freckles. How cute. As I age, I’m beginning to see beauty in imperfection.
I thought she was 50. Let’s not kid ourselves, these Hollywood types invest TONS in upgrading their looks. I’m all for self-acceptance but she is not…that.
That necklace though, wow!
I love Julianne but I agree — it’s hard to hear a wealthy woman who clearly spends a lot of time, energy, and money on maintaining unrealistic beauty standards talk about self-acceptance. At the same time, it is a sad fact that actresses are judged by how they look, how thin they are, how many wrinkles they have — and all of it plays a huge role in whether or not they work. There’s a lot of money at stake for these people — nobody’s paying me millions of dollars to look 15 or 20 years younger than I am. I think there are very few actresses out there who don’t obsess constantly about weight, muscle tone, under-eye bags, sagging necks, crepey skin, or sun damage.
I LOVE her freckles. Never knew she had them.
She is one of my favorites on the red carpet and in general! I LOVE HER. She’s gorgeous and I can’t believe she is 61. She is also a fantastic actress and Far From Heaven is one of the best performances I’ve seen by an actress on film. She should have won the Oscar for it.
That having been said, I know a lot of these interviews are fashion mags which is why starlets are asked the same aging, weight loss, beauty regimen questions (I know this interview was with the Sunday Times). I wish they would start asking actresses questions like: what has been your favorite place to visit? What’s your favorite season? You shot this movie in X city – what was your favorite thing about that city? Tell me about your pets. That having been said, she has a lot of interesting things to say and I love what she said about being less inwardly focused as time goes on.