Sally Field's latest project, "Hello, My Name Is Doris," struck a nerve with the actress, who turns 70 later this year. In the film, Field's quirky character, close to her own real age, is grappling with growing older and is finally coming into her own in her 60s. For Field, that meant thinking about the aging process and what age really means to her.
"Our task in life is to constantly transition from one stage into another whether it's toddlerhood into childhood into adolescence and then young adulthood and then middle age. It's just constant movement," Field told NPR.
Field will celebrate her 70th birthday in November and says the milestone has certainly crossed her mind, making her wonder how she will tackle this next decade of her life.
"Seventy is old and that's OK," Field said. "I don't like my neck, I don't like a lot of things but it's OK, it's OK."
The Academy Award-winning actress says there's something priceless about the wisdom that comes with age and it seems she really has embraced 70 already.
"I've gathered strength behind my years, I owned them, I've earned them, I've deserved them, I have a right to have them," Field said. "Behind my years I have value that doesn't come when you're 50 or 40 or 30 or 20, it doesn't come until you've been in that saddle for a number of years."
Amen, Sally. Amen.
Despite Hollywood's habit of worshipping youth, countless actresses have said that older really is better. Gwyneth Paltrow, 43, said she's proud of the gray hair she's "earned" and is at a place where she no longer fears aging. Supermodels Elle Macpherson and Cindy Crawford have both said that they appreciate their bodies more after 50, now that they've come into their own.
Aging really can be a beautiful thing.
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