Kirstie Clements: Jodie Foster is showing us all how to age naturally
It is possible to age and still look great.
I’ve been having a bit of a fangirl moment with actress Jodie Foster.
I’ve always loved her as an actor, she has a great voice and a very commanding presence, despite her tiny stature.
I have watched her in two films recently, Nyad and The Mauritanian, and the first episode of True Detective season 4.
At 61 years, Foster has chosen to age naturally – she doesn’t appear to have any have had any plastic surgery or fillers, or anything done to her face, and she looks fantastic, fit and strong.
Her hair seems to be her own natural dark blonde shade with some streaks of grey, but in The Mauritanian, her shoulder length hair was dyed silver-white, (as her character was based on real-life lawyer Nancy Hollander).
The white hair made her look older, no doubt about it. Still fab, with a black bucket hat and red lipstick, but older.
Going grey may be liberating, but it can be ageing. If you are ready to embrace that, then all power to you.
A friend of mine in her late sixties lost her hair recently after chemotherapy and her newly-grown crop has come back silver and curly, after previously being brunette and straight.
She is intending get her hair dyed back as quickly as she can, even though the new look is very chic. So chic, I wondered if I should get my hair cut and go grey.
Looks of horror
When I mentioned the plan to a group of friends they all looked at me horrified, even though they were my age and older.
They are all blonde, so they feel the leap from blonde to silver grey is not such a big one, whereas for someone with dark hair and eyebrows it’s too much of a change. Apparently I can’t make the call to go grey just yet. Even my hairdresser agrees.
But back to Jodie. How wonderful to see an actress age ( I’m not going to say gracefully because that’s not fair, women can do what they want) but naturally.
Annette Bening, who also stars in Nyad, is the same. Both women are shot in full, non-forgiving light, content with displaying wrinkles and sun spots and grey hair, and they are fabulous.
Foster also plays her roles taking her reading glasses on and off, and on occasion, losing them. It’s completely endearing.
I like this representation of older women, one that isn’t an unachievable Nicole Kidman or, at the further end, an 80-something icon like Dame Judi Dench, but 50-plus women looking their age and being kick- ass talents.
Jamie Lee Curtis chose to let her wrinkles be captured in close up in The Bear. Photo: FXP
Jamie Lee Curtis is another example of an actress making the choice to age naturally and let her wrinkles be captured in close-up, even playing them up as she did in award-winning TV show The Bear.
I hope we are going to see more of this trend: good scripts, great acting and untouched faces. And grey hair, sure – just not mine.