Naomi Watts Recalls Moment She Was Told Her Acting Career Would End at 40
It's time to destigmatize aging.
Naomi Watts got her big break in Hollywood later than most, at what she quickly found to be a ripe old age in the industry. Now, she's calling out the hypocrisy.
While Watts had been cast in several projects over the years, it wasn't until she was 33 that she was cast in Mulholland Drive, which ended up being her big break.
Around that time, somebody gave her some questionable advice. "I was told, 'You better get a lot done because it's all over at 40 when you become unf--kable,'" she told Entertainment Weekly earlier this week. And I'm like, 'What? What does that mean exactly?' Then you think about it, and you go, 'Oh, right. When you are no longer reproductive, when those organs are no longer functioning, you are not sexy, so, therefore, you are not hirable.' That just made me so mad."
Now, at 54, Watts has more than shut down that stereotype, and she continues to destigmatize aging through her upcoming wellness brand, Stripes, and by changing the way we talk about menopause.
"It's such an awkward conversation because, from day one, we begin our aging process. It's something we just all have to get comfortable with and women are asked to do it more than men," she pointed out later in the interview. "We don't talk about a man aging hardly ever. We don't talk about his gray hair. In fact, if we do, it's like, 'Oh, he gets more handsome, more desirable, more powerful.' And why is he powerful? Because he's accumulated experiences." But, the same can and should be said for women. "We've got important and powerful experiences as well at this age that we should feel proud of."
To help alter that narrative, Watts now speaks openly—on set and off—about her experiences with perimenopause and menopause. It was difficult to deal with at first, as she had never had anyone to walk her through it, but she hopes to make it so no one ever has to feel the same "secrecy and shame" about the natural parts of aging.
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