Staying Fit
(Left to right) Denzel Washington, Viola Davis and Quentin Tarantino
Momodu Mansaray/WireImage; P. Lehman/Future Publishing via Getty Images; Massimo Insabato/Archivio Massimo Insabato/Mondadori Portfolio via Getty Images
In recent weeks during interviews to promote new projects Bullet Train and the six-part HBO Max docuseries The Last Movie Stars, Brad Pitt, 58, and Ethan Hawke, 51, have both expressed feelings of being in the twilight of their acting careers, or at least the third act. “I consider myself on my last leg” Pitt told GQ; while Hawke opined to IndieWire that he’s at “the beginning of my last act” as an actor.
Hawke and Pitt don’t have to look far to find actors and filmmakers who’ve seen their careers flourish, and even go in new directions, after 50. As director Ridley Scott, 84, once told me for Variety, “Experience does frequently work. I was always amused that people retire at 60. At 60 you know everything. I’m way past my 60s and I’m chugging along doing the best work I’ve done in my life. That’s why I look at Clint Eastwood as the way to go.”
AARP Membership— $12 for your first year when you sign up for Automatic Renewal
Get instant access to members-only products and hundreds of discounts, a free second membership, and a subscription to AARP the Magazine.
No offense to recent AARP-age members Pitt and Hawke, but here are 10 big talents who continue to inspire well into their membership years. Don’t quit your day jobs, fellas.
Viola Davis, 56
With a mantel full of Oscar, Emmy and BAFTA trophies, Davis has dominated movies and easily transitioned to leading high-profile TV shows, like How to Get Away With Murder, as opportunities have opened up for women of color. The prestigious Toronto International Film Festival announced this month that Davis will get an Oscar-boosting opening-night premiere for The Woman King, the historical epic that had her learning martial arts and tapping into her physical bravery.
Dale Dickey, 60
For years, Dickey has played indelible supporting roles, starting with The Incredibly True Adventure of Two Girls in Love (1995), and showing her penchant for playing tough dames who can spit out a zinger opposite Jennifer Lawrence in Winter’s Bone (2010). Switch-hitting from film to TV, she’ll be seen in the upcoming movie-based series A League of Their Own. While she’s spent her prolific career largely under the radar, for the very first time Dickey plays the lead who carries the romantic arc in the Sundance hit A Love Song opposite Wes Studi, 74.
More on Entertainment
These 12 Older Stars Are Ruling Netflix
AARP cracks the code to reveal our first ranked list of the streamer’s grownup superstarsLiam Neeson: Age-Defying Action Hero
Behind the tough-guy image of his movie roles, we found a philosophical and compassionate soulAt 66, Lesley Manville Is a Queen of the Screen
The British actress tells AARP about her hit ‘Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris’