Andie MacDowell said she is "sick of trying to look young," pushing back against expectations that women must always appear youthful and vowing not to feel "shameful" about aging.
In a video message to The Drew Barrymore Show for the host's "50 F*** Its" segment on Tuesday, the 67-year-old actress cited the example of her grandmother and called the pressure on women to look young a demeaning social standard. "We revered her. We respected her. We never would've ever expected her to look young. That was not a concept that existed," MacDowell said. "This concept [that women should look young] has demeaned us as we age. It has now made us feel shameful. I have three little grandchildren and I’m gonna be a grandmother for them and I’m gonna look like I’m supposed to look, because I love myself. And I don’t have to look young."
MacDowell has spoken frequently in recent years about rejecting beauty norms. In a 2023 interview with Katie Couric, she said she welcomed going gray and was "tired of trying to be young," adding that maintaining a youthful facade is a heavy effort. She told People later that year that approaches to aging are a personal choice and noted differences within her own family: "My two oldest sisters will color their hair forever," she said, "so I think everybody has to make their individual choice about how they feel about aging, what they want to do as they age, and what makes them more comfortable."
The actress said allowing her natural gray hair to grow in produced unexpected cosmetic and emotional benefits. "As it was growing out, my eyes popped and the color of them looked a little different," she told Couric. "My skin looked better. It empowered me more. I felt more powerful and I felt more genuine and I felt more myself."
MacDowell's comments come as public conversations about aging and beauty standards continue in entertainment and culture. The South Carolina–born actress rose to wide recognition with 1994's Four Weddings and a Funeral opposite Hugh Grant and has appeared in films including Groundhog Day and Short Cuts. She has continued to work in film and television; industry listings show multiple projects in development, including a role credited as "Grandma" in the drama Wildfire.
MacDowell's remarks add to a growing number of veteran performers who have publicly discussed choosing to age without extensive cosmetic alteration, framing the choice as personal and tied to self-acceptance rather than a rejection of others' decisions. Her statement to Barrymore emphasized that the decision to present oneself naturally is not an admonition of those who choose otherwise but a claim to autonomy over how she will age and be seen.