Kyra Sedgwick Gets Candid About Aging in Hollywood, Her Amazing Mom and 'The Summer I Turned Pretty'

Quick quiz: What’s the first thing that pops into your mind when thinking of Kyra Sedgwick? Her role on The Closer, maybe? One of her great ‘90s movies? Or her 35-year marriage to Kevin Bacon? Sure, you know her, but to really understand Sedgwick is to hear her talk about her mother.

“Oh my God, she’s amazing and unbelievable,” she raves of Patricia, who’s 91 and still works as a psychotherapist. Sedgwick then relays an anecdote about how the two recently had to dash into a New York City subway en route to a Midtown black-tie gala event because of bad traffic. “She went downstairs in her sequined shoes and was going so fast and far ahead of me!” she says. “She’s still going strong. I can only try to keep up.”

Surely this helps explain Sedgwick’s fiercely headstrong, can-do attitude—not to mention her inability to stay put in a state of contentment. (In fact, she literally returned from a hike in Los Angeles before this Zoom interview.) Sure, the actress could have just leaned in to being the dreamy love interest (Singles, Phenomenon) or the supportive family member (Something to Talk About). But she decided to take the leap to television to star as ace detective Brenda Leigh Johnson in TNT’s The Closer in 2005 before many of her film peers switched mediums. After the last case was solved, she started to direct episodes of Grace and Frankie, Ray Donovan and Brooklyn Nine-Nine. She recently directed the indie film, Space Oddity.

Related: Kyra Sedgwick Reveals the Moment She Knew Kevin Bacon Was the One

Now she’s taking a new turn. A Gen Z one, to be exact. In the second season of the hit series The Summer I Turned Pretty (premiering July 14 on Prime Video), Sedgwick arrives at the sleepy fictional seaside town of Cousins Beach and “riles some stuff up,” she says. Specifically, her Aunt Julia character wants to sell the beloved estate that once belonged to her now-deceased sister—much to the chagrin of her teen nephews (Christopher Briney, Gavin Casalegno) and their childhood friend (Lola Tung). “Julia has some really bad memories of the house and it all comes to the forefront when she goes back there,” Sedgwick says.

The series is based on the YA romance trilogy by Jenny Han. That meant the actress was surrounded by talent a decade younger than her own children, Travis, 34, and Sosie, 31. “I had no idea what to expect with these kids,” she says. “But they were so good and professional and humble and not on their phones all the time! I couldn’t believe it. We’d actually talk to each other. It felt so wholesome.”

As for her own summer, the New York City native, 57, is spending it at the family farm with Bacon—and their pigs, goats (often the star of videos with Bacon), alpacas and miniature horses. But first, she talks to Parade.

Mara Reinstein: Did you know anything about The Summer I Turned Pretty before signing on?

Kyra Sedgwick: You know, I really didn’t. I had to get educated in the world according to Jenny Han, and I was blown away. All the choices in the show, from the costumes to the director to the ad campaign, are her vision. That’s very appealing to me.

Were your new co-stars familiar with you at all?

I don’t think so.

That didn’t freak you out?

It didn’t freak me out at all. I don’t mind being the old-timer. I think that’s the reason to do something. Why not have a whole new generation know you? But I never think anyone knows me from anything. That’s the world I live in. And I do feel incredibly young and like I’m at the beginning of my long and storied career. Maybe that’s a fantasy in my head.

You grew up in New York City. What kind of kid were you?

I spent a lot of time hanging outside playing handball with my friends until dinnertime on the stoops of the Upper West Side. By the time I was 12 or 13, I was going to movies and plays downtown in the Village and was a total late-‘70s hippie. I’d listen to Janis Joplin and Jefferson Airplane and Bob Dylan. Then my parents would go away for the weekend and we’d party. I feel like we were feral in Manhattan. It’s a wonder I managed to stay alive, frankly. And it’s so funny because when my kids were around that age, they’d want to spend the weekend alone in our New York apartment and I was like, “Absolutely not!”

The family on your dad’s side has an illustrious history that includes colonist Major General Robert Sedgwick and model Edie Sedgwick. Were you always aware of your roots?

We were very aware of the Sedgwicks and how important they felt they were, if you know what I mean. But yeah, they were amazing. One of our progenitors signed the Declaration of Independence and another was a general in the Civil War. I think the greatest claim to fame is Judge Theodore Sedgwick, who, as a lawyer, won the freedom of the first slave in North America. Her name was Elizabeth Freeman and she’s buried in the Sedgwick family plot in Stockbridge, Massachusetts.

How did you end up in the arts?

My mother was so turned on by arts and culture and specifically by acting. She’d take my brothers and me to the theater and say, “Oh my God, wasn’t that amazing when this moment happened?” My stepfather was an art dealer, so we were surrounded by beautiful art. And my dad [Henry, a venture capitalist] loved to take us to what he called “The Flickerinos.” He took us to movies way too early in our lives. Like, I saw The Exorcist when I was 10.

Your first role was the soap opera Another World. Was that slightly anticlimactic?

I was psyched. I only auditioned because we had a manager friend who thought it would be fun for me. I was just 16 but I was treated like a professional and expected to act like one. I mean, there is no shame in being on a soap opera. Julianne Moore started on a soap. Morgan Freeman was on my soap and we had a bit of an overlap!

What was your real break? Born on the Fourth of July?

Yeah, that’s the break.

It’s an anti-Vietnam drama from 1989 starring Tom Cruise and directed by Oliver Stone. Does that still rank as your most intense experience?

It didn’t scare me at all. I was like, of course I’m supposed to be here. I found Oliver to be a real straight shooter and I was a no-bulls—t New Yorker. Like if you just came right back at him, he wasn’t going to mess with you. But what I found extraordinary was how much Tom worked his ass off. He was an enormous star at the time, and you could tell that he knew this was such a unique and special opportunity for him. He went above and beyond and was lovely to me.

You nailed the angst of dating in Singles, which remains a Gen-X classic. But you were married with two kids by the time you were 26!

I didn’t experience the singles scene at all. Absolutely not. It’s so crazy to me to this day that I met Kevin at 21 or whenever the f—k it was and got married at 22. The only reason I made that choice was because I’d fallen for him. But had you told me that it would have happened, I would have thought you were out of your f—king mind. That wasn’t me. I was fiercely independent. I moved out of my family home at 17 and was finally self-sufficient. But I met him and it was like, of course we have to get married. When I look back on it, it’s insane.

When you make a movie like that, are you relieved that you never had to endure being single in your 20s?

That’s funny. I don’t know if I thought about it at the time. But [writer-director] Cameron Crowe definitely did not portray dating like it was a fun thing. You could tell he really f---king hated it. And he was also married at the time!

Kevin’s signature role is Ren in Footloose, whether he likes it or not. Do you think you have one?

If I had a signature role, it’s Brenda Leigh Johnson for sure.

Related: Bringing Home the Bacon, Indeed! What Is Kevin Bacon’s Net Worth in 2023?

Was it a big risk to take The Closer? Not a lot of movie actors were doing TV in 2005.

Oh yeah, doing TV in general wasn’t cool. And I had to do the show in L.A. even though my kids were going to school in New York. And it was TNT, which wasn’t doing anything original. But it was an incredible part. Like, it so wasn’t me. She’s this Southern belle and a f---king badass and smarter than anybody else in the room, and I just fell in love with this character. Then it became this extraordinary, phenomenal hit, which was a huge surprise to everybody—including me!

It could have gone on forever and I was grateful for the offer to do more. But I fulfilled my contract and was ready to do other things. I wanted to explore other roles and produce. And I just didn’t want to play her anymore. The role was too consuming. Out of a 46-page episodic script, she spoke 42 pages of it! That’s a huge commitment.

They don’t make shows like The Closer anymore, especially on basic cable.

What’s interesting to me is that now everybody is like, “Oh my god, procedurals! They’re so great! They’re so homey, like an English muffin!” The critics dismissed us as a procedural. But everything comes around, right? There is something comforting about it.

After you wrapped, what did you set out to do?

I think I finished when I was 46. It wasn’t until four years later when I fell in love with directing. Then it was, OK, all bets are off.

Did it also scare you that you were an actress nearing 50?

No. I don’t think that way. I’m really grateful that I’m a multi-hyphenate because I think that parts are fewer and far between when you get older, period. There are just not many great scripts out there. For anybody! To be able to get hired as a director is fantastic because you get to take all these creative and intense feelings and channel them into something.

Your son Travis is a musician and daughter Sosie is an actress. Have you directed her yet?

I did in my first movie, Story of a Girl. She’s extraordinary and very special, and I hope to direct her more. When I sit down to watch her performances, it’s like I’m watching Joaquin Phoenix because I have no idea what I’m going to get. That’s so exciting to me.

Did you and Kevin always plan on raising your kids in the city?

Yes, and I’m really glad we did. When I was doing The Closer, there was a family conversation of like, “Should we move to L.A.?” And the kids were like, “No, no, no, no!” They’re just dyed-in-the-wool New Yorkers. It’s hard but you grow up faster and you see the world in a different way, and that’s a good thing.

Do you two have a lot of showbiz friends?

We only have normal friends! No, Kevin and I don’t have a Rolodex of famous people. We don’t love actors. Most of my friends I’ve had since I was a teenager.

And you have the goats, of course. They have lots of fans!

Oh, it’s a whole thing. “I haven’t seen you in any movies, but I love your Instagram!” But they’re great. They run to greet you and say hello when you walk into their area. They’ve been so socialized. And they don’t even want food because we don’t feed them! I just pet them.

Kevin told Parade last year that he believes every role will be his last. Do you feel the same way?

Yeah, he does say that. Um, do I feel the same way? No, I don’t. I don’t take things for granted, but I do feel like I’ll be working until my 90s like my mom.

So, you feel good about whatever comes next?

I’m not a delusional optimist. I know what’s going on in the world. But I’m super-grateful about how privileged I am. I’m a f----king lucky person. I get to be alive.

Stream The Summer I Turned Pretty Season 2 on Prime Video starting July 14.

Next, Everything You Need to Know About 'The Summer I Turned Pretty' Season 2