'Downton Abbey' star Elizabeth McGovern 'didn't like idea' of turning 60
Elizabeth McGovern has revealed she really 'did not like the idea' of turning 60 in the lead-up to her latest milestone birthday but added she's now fully embracing this stage of life.
The actor – known for her role as Cora Crawley, Countess of Grantham in Downton Abbey – explained that she had no issue with turning 50, but had a hard time accepting she was nearing her 60th birthday last July.
McGovern, who appears on the cover of the April issue of Woman & Home magazine, revealed, "Turning 50 was fine, but I did not like the idea of turning 60. As it encroached, everything about me was like, 'No, I cannot be 60 I'm not into it!'"
But happily, her outlook later completely changed. "Once I got past the milestone and with a little help from friends, now I'm loving it," she added.
The photoshoot for the magazine feature sees McGovern sporting a stunning teal dress made from double-sided satin, from Laura Green London.
The 60-year-old also discussed the impact that growing older can have on your career, especially as a woman working in the entertainment world. "There is less opportunity for a woman my age than a man my age. That is the reality, but things are changing slowly.
"Conversations over the past couple of years have been very profound and although it's been a tough couple of years, I feel very hopeful about the future."
McGovern, also recognised for her role as Evelyn Nesbit in the 1981 film Ragtime, has been married to film director Simon Curtis, 61, since 1992, revealing the key to her happy marriage with him is their shared "sense of humour. That’s basically the key to everything!"
She also shared another tricky period of her life, when her adult daughters, Matilda, 27, and Grace, 23, left home, describing it as a "huge transition".
However, as one silver lining, the pandemic hitting shortly after brought them back again. "I couldn't have been happier!" she smiled.
"I would be lying if I said I don’t miss them. I was branching out during their upbringing. As they began school, I started a band and then the challenge and responsibility of writing this play hit me at the perfect time. It’s really distracted me from feeling the loneliness of having them go."
Read more: 'Our voices matter more than ever': Rita Ora insists it's critical women fight ageism in music
Yes, singer-songwriter McGovern has a band, Sadie and the Hotheads, which was formed in 2007.
More recently, she has written and starred in Ava: The Secret Conversations, based on the biography by Peter Evans, inspired by his conversations with Ava Gardner, whom McGovern played. It debuted in January this year.
McGovern has proven to be a powerful voice, speaking out about ageism in Hollywood and the type of casting 50-plus women can be subject to.
She told The Telegraph, "When you get to be my age, you either have a choice between the crazy woman who refused ever to become the perfect mother and wife and is now a neurotic, mostly alcoholic mess, or you play the nice perfect grandmother with hands folded in your lap."
But it was her daughters who helped her challenge sexism in Hollywood. "My daughters see right through all the c**p in a way that I wouldn’t have done at their age. I was more sort of looking for somebody to sweep me off my feet in a romantic way," she said.
Together, the three of them are a force to be reckoned with and now McGovern is busier with work than ever.
