People often have a habit of freezing celebrities in their minds when they were at the peak of their fame, forgetting that they are human beings who age like everyone else. In addition, the widespread use of cosmetic surgery and fillers today further distorts our perception of how people naturally look as they age. However, fortunately, there are still some celebrities who remind us that there is absolutely nothing wrong with looking different as we age compared to our younger years.
Justine proudly embraces her age.
If you were a kid or teenager in the ’80s and ’90s, you probably remember Justine as Mallory Keaton from the popular TV show Family Ties. But after that, she shifted her focus from acting to working behind the scenes. Now, she’s a successful author and director. In a recent interview, the actress, now 57 years old, came back into the spotlight to share an important message with all women concerned about getting older.
When she reached her 40s, people considered her “old.”
Justine didn’t think about getting older until she had to search for something online. She wanted to research and refresh her memory about something that happened during her fame. But when she typed her name, Justine Bateman, into Google, the search autocomplete suggested: “looks old.” This happened when she was only around 40 years old.
That revelation actually boosted her self-confidence.
When questioned whether she had ever considered cosmetic procedures, Justine explained that plastic surgery would cause her to “lose all of her authority.” She expressed contentment with her current appearance and emphasized that she finds satisfaction in the visible signs that indicate she has evolved into a different individual from her younger self.
She even decided to write a book about her experiences.
Justine doesn’t criticize those who choose to undergo beauty treatments to appear younger, but she does express a feeling of sadness for them. She explains that she feels sorry for those so preoccupied with the idea of fixing their appearance that it distracts them from focusing on the meaningful aspects of life. In 2021, Justine Bateman released a book titled “Face: One Square Foot of Skin,” which addresses this significant issue.
Women shouldn’t spend too much time fixating on their looks.
Justine shared some exciting news: “There’s absolutely nothing wrong with your face!” she wrote as the caption for an Instagram post promoting her book. Justine draws from her experiences to illustrate society’s obsession with how women’s faces transform as they age. When asked about the beauty of aging, Justine firmly states that she doesn’t care about others’ opinions. She confidently asserts, “I think I look rad. My face represents who I am. I like it, and that’s basically the end of the road.”
Several notable figures in the public eye have made the conscious choice to embrace natural aging, rejecting the pressure to undergo cosmetic interventions. One such individual is Cameron Diaz, who boldly opted to age gracefully without relying on Botox or similar treatments. After an unpleasant experience where Botox altered her appearance in an unexpected manner, Diaz decided to embrace her natural features and allow the aging process to unfold authentically.
Preview photo credit Invision / Invision / East News, Invision / Invision / East News
YOU WON’T BELIEVE HOW ‘GREASE’ STAR STOCKARD CHANNING LOOKS AT 80
After all these years, I don’t think there’s ever been a Rizzo as charming or relatable as Stockard Channing.
Channing was a talented actress, and her singing in *Grease* was amazing. But now, at 80 years old, she looks almost unrecognizable.
The first movie I ever saw Stockard Channing in was called *The Big Bus*, and I thought it was really funny. Back then, I never could have guessed that she would go on to have such an amazing career.
Today, Stockard Channing is best known for playing Betty Rizzo in *Grease*. *Grease* is a 1978 musical romantic comedy film based on a musical from 1971 with the same name. Many people, including me, think Channing was the best Rizzo out of everyone who has ever played the role.
A lot of people also know Channing from the TV show *The West Wing*, where she played First Lady Abbey Bartlet. Her acting was praised, especially her natural chemistry with Martin Sheen, who played President Josiah Bartlet.
“It just worked,” she said in an interview with *Entertainment Weekly* in 2020.
“We had this chemistry from the beginning. I don’t know what it was, but we had it and it didn’t go away. It was a happy accident.”
Starring as Betty Rizzo
Let’s take a closer look at the highlight of Stockard Channing’s career. To be honest, she hasn’t been in any major movies since Grease, even though she has kept acting in films and on Broadway.
Channing, who has been nominated for 13 Emmy Awards and seven Tony Awards, seems completely okay with being best known for playing the “bad girl” Betty Rizzo, one of the Pink Ladies in Grease.
But is that really all there is to her story?
Back in 1973, Channing had a small breakthrough when she starred in the TV movie The Girl Most Likely to…. It was a dark comedy about revenge.
“A lot of people talk about the G-word [Grease] and all of that, but back in the day, I had just as many people stop me on the street because of that one movie,” she said. “Because it’s about revenge, and people would sit in their living rooms and think, ‘Oh, I’m the only person watching this’ or ‘this person understands me.’ I’m not kidding. It was a million years ago, and then it was the highest-rated movie of the week. Revenge always works.”
Channing says she has only watched Grease twice.
“I used to be grumpy about Grease because I thought it was a kids’ movie or something. But now it’s kind of amazing. I’m very proud of it,” she told The Times in 2019.
The actress, who was born in Manhattan, was 33 years old when she played Rizzo, and playing a high school teenager wasn’t easy for her.
“I was much older than Rizzo in real life, but I couldn’t think about that. I had to imagine what I felt like when I was her age, or even younger. I thought about the complexity of being a teenager, with all the hormones, feelings, and issues around sexuality. Being older helped me show Rizzo’s sense of isolation,” Channing told Broadway World.
Channing, who got interested in acting at a young age, was very excited when she was offered the role of Rizzo. Her performance made her a big star in the late 1970s. She even won a People’s Choice Award for Favorite Motion Picture Supporting Actress. However, the actress from New York found it hard to get the same kind of success after Grease.
Channing was given two of her own sitcoms, Stockard Channing in Just Friends (1979) and The Stockard Channing Show (1980), but neither of them did well, and her career slowed down.
But Channing, with her Elizabeth Taylor-like looks and calm confidence, didn’t give up. She kept acting in many highly-praised movies and stage plays. Her most recent big-screen appearance was in the movie Angry Neighbors, which premiered in 2022.
Moving to London
In recent years, Stockard Channing has been involved in theater productions in London, where she now lives. She used to live in Maine with her partner of 25 years, but she moved to England in 2019.
“Living on my own here during the pandemic, I was sort of going through the same experience as everyone else in the country,” she told The Times.
Keeping a Low Profile
On a personal level, Stockard Channing has kept a low profile. The Grease star, who has always been known for being “reckless” and restless, has no children.
She has been married and divorced four times. Nowadays, she finds comfort in her dog, who has been her constant companion for many years.
Stockard Channing and Plastic Surgery
In recent years, Channing has also gotten attention for her changing appearance. It all started in 2017 when she was interviewed on Lorraine, a British breakfast TV show.
Here’s the article rewritten in simple language:
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### Reactions to Channing’s Appearance
Channing was on the show to talk about her career and the roles she’s played, but many viewers were more focused on how different the *Grease* star looked. Many people were surprised by how much she had changed, leading to lots of talk on Twitter and articles in the tabloids.
“Oh my god, what has Rizzo done to herself?” one viewer wrote, while another said, “Shocked at how Stockard Channing looked on *Lorraine*. Why do they mess with plastic surgeons?”
In an article from the *Daily Mail*, a surgeon suggested that Channing might have used botox. However, others defended Channing. After all, we all get older, and it’s normal for an 80-year-old woman’s appearance to change over time.
To me, Channing still has that “Rizzo” personality – cool and confident! In an interview with *Out* magazine in 2011, she said she does “everything I f—ing can” to stay in shape.
“You get to a certain age, and you start playing a lot of mothers. Maybe if I had children, I’d feel differently, but I really hate being compared to these guys’ memories of their mothers, which, trust me, aren’t so great,” she laughed and added:
“Or maybe they watched a lot of *The Golden Girls*, you know? And while I’m thankful for *The Golden Girls*, they don’t spend time with women my age now, and I’d like to think the world has changed since then.”
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