At 65, Margo Martindale Just Hired Her First Stylist: ‘It’s OK to Care at My Age’

Margo Martindale has been acting since 1987, but it wasn’t until five years ago — when she won an Emmy for her recurring role of Mags Bennett on Justified — that she became a household name. Now she can barely get through a meal without being stopped by a fan. “It’s sometimes overwhelming because my husband and I love to eat outside on the streets of New York,” she tells Yahoo Style.

But the 65-year-old, who’s had recurring roles in The Good Wife, The Americans and BoJack Horseman, feels blessed to have been working for so many years, whether she’s been receiving the recognition she deserves or not. And though fame’s always been the goal, Martindale would be the first to tell you that she’s perfectly fine with the fact that people weren’t pestering her for a selfie until her senior years. For one thing, it’s allowed her to dodge the burden of having to be hyperaware of her external appearance. “I just don’t have any pressure with what I look like,” she says of coming into prominence later in life. “I think it must be very difficult to do it younger — making that transition as those beautiful girls age up!”

In her latest film, The Hollars (in theaters now), Martindale’s performance as a mother with a terminal illness confirms her Hollywood status. As Sally Hollar, she plays the mother of John (John Krasinski), and her deteriorating health drags her family home for a much-needed reunion. And in lieu of flashy costumes and hours in the primping chair, the actress spends most of the film laid up in a hospital bed in minimal makeup and a ragged surgical gown. It’s a role unlike any Martindale has taken on to date.

We caught up with the in-demand star to discuss having Krasinski direct her in her latest role, why she recently hired her first stylist to up her red carpet game, and how she has managed to be one of the lucky actresses to escape the issue of ageism in Hollywood.

Yahoo Style: What attracted you to playing Sally in The Hollars?

Margo Martindale: Well, I gravitated towards the script by Jim Strouse. I thought it was a very fresh, surprising, moving, funny story. And because John [Krasinski] asked me to do it, I was delighted. And I hadn’t done anything like this. I gravitated towards it because it was something different.

Was it fun working with John as a director? You guys had done a commercial together awhile ago, and this gave you a chance to reunite on screen.

Yeah. A hundred years ago. And then I had watched him from afar and 16 years later, I got a call from him. It was fabulous. It was seamless, him as a director, as an actor. It was all in one. He created an incredible atmosphere that was filled with light and bounce so tonally we were always in the same bubble and we just really talked to each other.

There’s a scene in the film where your character shaves her head to prepare for surgery. Did you really take a razor to your scalp or was it a wig?

It was a prosthetic. It was a very good one, wasn’t it? It took three months to make. It was one hair at a time. We had one shot and it was as if I was having my head shaved because I was. And it was a very vulnerable [moment] and I was scared and extremely emotional because my son said, “I’ll do it.” It was moving.

What did you think when you looked at yourself in the mirror and saw a bald head?

Well I thought, “Hmm. Do I look like a man? That’s why I said, “Give me my lipstick.” It wasn’t bad. I was surprised.

Speaking of hair, you’ve had the same style for a while. Has this become your signature look?

This hair? Oh geez. Is that true (laughs)? Maybe I should change it. It’s because I get into these shows and I can’t change my hair. It’s true. I’m on The Americans and I have the same hairdo. Now that’s going to be a five- to six-year gig. And it’s true. I have no time to have short hair. Now I’m playing someone where I’m wearing a hairpiece just because I wanted to change my hair in a new role.

Once you are allowed to change your hairstyle, what’s the plan?

I will cut my hair and put bangs or something like that. I don’t know what I want to do yet but something like that.

What is your process of getting ready for a red carpet like? Do you work with a stylist?

I just recently have been working with a stylist, Todd Hallman. And he’s been fabulous in helping me find things. For so many years I thought, nobody cares what I look like. I can wear whatever because they are looking for the fashion girls coming along. But you know it’s OK to care at my age. So I’m very happy to be upping the game a bit. Before I was doing it myself. Now it’s so, “Oh, I don’t have to go shopping?” I love that!

Do you feel the same pressure as some of the younger Hollywood actresses to look a certain way?

Of course not. That is high profile. Everyone is looking to see what Emily Blunt is wearing and usually it’s beautiful. It’s always beautiful. I do it for me. It’s for me being proud of my age and my size and all of that.

What are you most comfortable in?

I’m most comfortable in shorts and a big ol’ top [laughs].

Minus Mother’s Day, you don’t seem to play the typical 65-year-old. Have you ever had to deal with ageism in Hollywood?

No. I’ve just been fortunate. That’s all. I’ve been fortunate to work all the way up to Justified. And then Justified gave me this explosive part that was wildly fun and specific and actually just perfect for me and my insanity. It opened a lot of doors. I’ve been playing 60 since I was 16. So what happened is all of a sudden I was hitting the right age and it opened up a whole new world. I am playing my age.

You seem like you are super-comfortable with yourself at this point in your life.

Well, I am because I’m 65. And I can do what I want. But there is pressure to be good. The pressure to be good and to do my job is still there. I just don’t have any pressure with what I look like. I think it must be very difficult to do it younger. And making that transition as those beautiful girls age up … People talk to me about being a character actor. “Does it make you feel weird to be called a character actress?” Well, I say, “Isn’t every actor a character actor? You’re playing a character. Either you become that character or you don’t.”

You were acting for a long time and were in many things but you only became a household name in recent years. Has that been surreal?

Fun! It’s fun. It’s what I waited for. I was always happy to be employed and I was respected by my peers and the people I worked with so that was plenty for me. I’ve acted always. But it’s been great to receive recognition at this stage of my life. So I’m not going to tell those people on the street to stop stopping me. It’s sometimes overwhelming because my husband and I love to eat outside on the streets of New York. Sometimes you can’t finish your food, but that’s OK. It’s phenomenal. I am so grateful. It’s so much fun.

What are they most often recognizing you for?

Lots of different things. The Good Wife was big. The Americans is huge. Some people are stopping me for BoJack Horseman. I say, “Do I look like my cartoon?” Lots of different roles. Paris, je t’aime — people have stopped me for that. And, of course, Justified, when that was going on. But people still stop me for Justified. The Millers. I used drive back and forth from California to New York and middle America, boy they were Millers fans.

It’s probably fun because it must bring some of your previous work that you are proud of to light.

It does! It’s so true. People kind of look me up and go, “Oh, I didn’t know that was you.”

Is it true that you have a 33-minute-a-day elliptical plan?

I did until The Millers. And I did it religiously. I did it five times a week. And then I got The Millers, and I bought an elliptical and brought it to my dressing room and went on it twice. And it’s kind of broken my thing. I’ve got to get back to it, but it’s hard. It’s hard. It’s hard! I’m going to start this week.

Why 33 minutes?

I always try to go past 30. Sometimes 45. It depends on what’s on television. I usually watch something stupid on TV. Some game show.

You’ve said that early on in your career you used to say yes to everything. And you’ve played such a wide variety of characters — a political strategist, the head of a Russian spy operative, a kooky housewife, etc. Do you accept roles that are far out of your realm and then just figure out how to do them?

Yeah, but I don’t say yes to everything anymore. But yes, absolutely. I figure out how to do it. I’m doing this show now where I’m figuring it out as we go. It’s fun. I hope I’m making it specific.

It has to be scary to push past your comfort zone. What is the secret to continuously doing that?

Here is the secret. You have to find the facts of the character. Tell me the facts you know. I ask the writers, “Tell me the back facts. Any backstory that you can tell me and give me the facts of what we know, put them on paper. I’m not asking you to tell me where I’m going, but I need that.” Because it’s like here’s a one, here’s a two, here’s a three. That adds up to six. That makes the character. I do it sort of mathematically. I like to know the map of the person. And then it becomes specific and then it becomes a different person. It’s been fun to get to be different people!

Follow us on Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest for nonstop inspiration delivered fresh to your feed, every day.