10 Memorable Moments at AARP’s Movies for Grownups Awards 2025

Jodie Foster discovered that turning 60 is the key to happiness

"There's something about turning 62, now almost 63 — it just keeps getting better," said Foster, the best TV actress winner for True Detective: Night Country. "I think the reason that I'm the happiest that I've ever been is that there is some weird chemical that hits your body when you have that 60th birthday where suddenly you just don't care about anything. And all of the things that tortured you in your 50s, trying to compete with your old self, trying to compete with ideas that other people had for you — all of it sort of goes away, and you realize that you've been spending all of this time agonizing about yourself for years and years. And the day that you make a decision not to do that anymore and to make it about others is the happiest day of your life."

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'A Complete Unknown' was a complete winner

Harrison Ford, 82, presented the Bob Dylan film with the award for best movie for grownups. It also won for best time capsule, and a big hand went to costume designer Arianne Phillips, 61. Besides brilliantly re-creating the early 1960s, Ford noted that the film's hero in youth has an experience plenty of grownups have in age: "He reinvents himself, gives himself a new name and a new outlook on life."

Producer James Mangold, 61, joked, "When I turned 45, I started getting these [AARP] envelopes, and I was like, It's too damn early, you know, and maybe wait a little couple years more. But like Jodie, I've reached a point where I embrace it. And I really embrace the idea of what you're doing here, which is celebrating films that have mature themes, and that are aimed at, as you put it, grownups."

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The 'Wicked' writers were delighted to be invited to the AARP party

Winnie Holzman, 48, who shared the best screenwriting award with Dana Fox, 70, joked, "We are so glad, first of all, that you called it 'Movies for Grownups' and not 'adult films.'" Holzman said, "AARP, I've been reading your magazine since I was like 10 years old. You guys are my people. And also I didn't realize you partied this hard! So I'd like to be invited next year."

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Peter Sarsgaard gave a shout-out to his role model for creative aging

The best-supporting-actor winner for September 5 credited his father, who retired at 55, two years older than he is now, and then fulfilled his life's ambition. "He wanted to be a photographer, so he became one. He considered himself retired, but he's an artist like me. You can't retire if you're an artist, it's for life. Vanessa Redgrave is still available if the role is large enough." He razzed his long-ago costar Sean Penn, 64, who presented him the award: "Sean told me he was quitting acting 30 years ago, but here he is, years later, being brilliant, making us feel bad!"

Glenn Close, 77, is 'still raring to go!'

The 2025 career achievement winner appeared on video, not onstage, because as she explained, "My first grandchild is making his debut any minute, and since my daughter is my finest achievement in all of my lifetime, nothing can keep me from being with her." She recalled how she felt in her first movie, 1982's The World According to Garp — the same way she feels today. "I was so hungry for work. I have not lost that hunger...in fact, my hunger and belief is much deeper, because I've been learning my craft for 50 years. I'm still here, raring to go!"

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Hiroyuki Sanada, 64, marveled at the success of 'Shōgun'

The Shōgun star and executive producer accepted the award for best TV series, and marveled at his debut as an A-list star and also as a producer of an historic hit show. "I felt like a newborn baby." The crowd roared when he said, "You know, I started this new job when I was 60. But, yeah, it kept me feeling young!"

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Adrien Brody, 51, honored his elders — and AARP

Brody, the best-actor winner for The Brutalist, said he’s a longtime reader of AARP The Magazine. “ I grew up reading AARP at my grandmother’s home — I swear!” The audience laughed, but he was serious. “My grandparents and my parents afforded me this moment. And they treated me as a grownup. They treated me with respect. They gave me space to forge a creative path without judgment.”​

But at heart, he’s still that kid watching TV with his grandma. “I've been doing this for almost 40 years, and I still have the same childlike enthusiasm that I've always had. The beauty of being an actor is that you can always play, and we should all remember that no matter how old we get, we have to keep that freedom and imagination and curiosity in one another.”

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Joan Chen, 63, made the most poetic speech

Chen, who won best supporting actress for Didi, said, "AARP reminds us that aging is something to embrace, a badge of honor, actually. As the author of The Little Prince put it, 'In spite of decoys, jolts and ruts, you have continued to plod like a horse, drawing a cart.' And I'm so fortunate I am still here, still drawing my cart. Well, I may be entering the winter of my career, but the view is [anything] but bleak: against the glittering snow, vibrant pink, red plum blossoms bloom — a flower you can't find in any other season."​