10 Actresses Over 50 at the Peak of Their Power

From awards season to box office hits, these queens are kicking ageism to the curb

Tracey Minkin,

AARP

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Published January 24, 2025

AARP (Tristan Fewings/Getty Images; Kristina Bumphrey/Getty Images; Rodin Eckenroth/Getty Images; John Phillips/Getty Images; Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images)

Has there ever been a better time for grownup actresses in Hollywood? Women used to be relegated to corny aging-bestie and cozily wise or cranky grandma roles at remarkably early ages — Irene Ryan played Granny Moses on The Beverly Hillbillies at 59. Finally, like a long overdue breath of fresh air, actresses are seizing starring roles that examine sexuality and the pressures of aging with candor, grit, humor, and daring.

Here are ten stars who are storming the box office and the red carpet, changing the way showbiz (and viewers) view our 50+ generations.

Nicole Kidman, 57, was never hotter

While the Australian actress has worked steadily in film and television (including a juicy turn on the recent Netflix hit The Perfect Couple), her latest starring role in Babygirl, where she plays a corporate executive having a steamy affair with a much younger intern, marks out new territory, portraying sexual themes once unthinkable for middle-aged women. Kidman could win her second Oscar for it this year, after six nominations and one win (for The Hours in 2003).

Don't miss this: Nicole Kidman calls out industry ageism: 'How wonderful that our careers can go beyond 40 years old, because 20 years ago we were pretty washed up by this stage in our lives'

Demi Moore, 62, beat the Popcorn Curse

Talk about career revenge. Despite multibillion-dollar success in the 1990s (Ghost, anyone?), the star found herself increasingly dismissed as a "popcorn actress," and effectively sidelined as the decades rolled by. Until 2024, when she played an aging actress seeking a sinister anti-aging process in the critically acclaimed body horror film The Substance. The gutsy star turn landed Moore her first top acting award — a Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Musical/Comedy — and an Oscar nomination. In her acceptance speech, Moore described what it had been like to have been painted unfairly by producers: “I believed that, and that corroded me over time to the point where I thought a few years ago that maybe this was it" — time to quit. But when the script for The Substance got into her hands, she says, “the universe told me, ‘You’re not done.’” And bankable to boot: The Substance grossed more than $76.5 million worldwide so far.

Don't miss this: Demi Moore wins her first major acting award at 62: 'I'm Just In Shock!'

Pamela Anderson, 57, showed what she's really made of

Demi Moore and Pamela Anderson both had to crack a glass ceiling regarding their reputations this year, but Anderson had to break all the glass in a much thicker ceiling. Long relegated to cult sex object status after starring in Baywatch in the 1990s, Anderson had essentially slid from public view as an actress. But then she came out at Paris Fashion Week in 2023 without a bit of makeup, prompted by the death of her longtime makeup artist to breast cancer. Anderson made it a statement of what beauty can actually look like as we age. In 2024, she returned triumphantly to the big screen in a complex lead role about another aging sex object, in The Last Showgirl (and snagged a Golden Globe nomination for Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Motion Picture Drama).

“It is never too late to dream, to start again, to stay open to possibilities,” Anderson told People. “I wish everyone my love and thanks while I navigate this new exciting chapter.”

Don't miss this: Pamela Anderson's cookbook celebrates nature's bounty and beauty, in AARP Members Edition

Fernanda Torres won overnight stardom at 59

In an upset Globes win over Kidman and Anderson (as well as high profile actresses Kate Winslet, 50 on Oct. 5, Angelina Jolie, 50 on June 4, and Tilda Swinton, 64), the Brazilian actress took top honors for a breakout international role that put a woman at the center of a political drama, plus an Oscar nomination. Based on a true story, I’m Still Here chronicles Eunice Paiva's quest to have her husband's 1970s murder by Brazil’s military junta officially recognized. It’s an inspiring harbinger for Torres’s work to come — and the film costars her legendary, Oscar-nominated mother, Fernanda Montenegro, still vital at 95.

Jamie Lee Curtis, 66, soared higher year by year

Curtis is a force unparalleled in Hollywood, and she’s not letting up. Following her 2023 Oscar for Everything Everywhere All at Once, and an Emmy as the world's most volatile mom in The Bear in 2024, she’s nominated for a SAG Award (and possibly an Oscar) for a searing turn as another Vegas showgirl grinding out her life in The Last Showgirl. Curtis, AARP’s 2023 Movies for Grownups Lifetime Achievement Award winner, has transcended genre, gender, and age.

Michelle Yeoh, 62, proved time is no match for her superpowers

This dynamic, versatile actress won her first Oscar at 60 as the star of 2022’s Everything Everywhere All At Once. Since then she's appeared in another megahit, 2024's Wicked, three TV series, and two forthcoming blockbusters: Avatar 4 and Star Trek: Section 31. “Ladies, don’t let anybody tell you you are ever past your prime,” she said in her Oscar speech. "It was important for me to say that," she told AARP. She elaborated: “because when you allow that to happen, they put you in a box. I mean, when you’re in your [late] 30s, if you’re pregnant, it’s a geriatric pregnancy! Why is it that numbers matter so much, especially for women? It seems like the clock is ticking a lot faster for us.” Her success defies that disempowering clock.

Jean Smart, Jodie Foster, Jennifer Coolidge and Kathy Bates made TV safe for grownup women

The hit-making power of women over 50 isn't confined to the big screen, as streaming queens increasingly prove. Award favorite Jean Smart, 73, continues to scoop up trophies for her work on HBO’s Hacks; heralded actress and director Jodie Foster, 62, who rescued the True Detective franchise in 2024, just snagged a Globe for her work as Alaska detective Liz Danvers on the critically acclaimed new season. Jennifer Coolidge, 63, pivoted from quirky character turns to must-see-TV stardom (and an Emmy) on The White Lotus (fans are still mourning her character’s demise in Season 2). And Kathy Bates, 76, seized control of a network chestnut, the legal drama Matlock, and made it a female-led hit.

Andy Griffith reinvented himself at 61 in the original 1987 Matlock. But it's women's time now.

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