Squibb lives her fantasy in ‘Thelma’

Park City – Packed full of nail-biting chases, hi-tech gadgets and an armed standoff, Thelma could be the next Mission: Impossible

movie – except its star, June Squibb, is 94.

In the film, Squibb’s hero takes matters into her own hands after she is swindled into sending $10 000 (about R180 000) to a scammer, racing across Los Angeles on a souped-up mobility scooter with a dusty old gun, determined to confront the villain.

Remarkably, the action-comedy, which premiered at the Sundance festival on Thursday, is the first leading film role for the veteran stage actor, who earned an Oscar nomination for Nebraska a decade ago.

So how does it feel to become Hollywood’s hottest new action star in her twilight years?

“It feels great! I love it! Me and Tom [Cruise]!” Squibb said.

Indeed, the film is littered with references to Tom Cruise, whose films her character Thelma enjoys watching with her grandson.

It plays with tropes from the Mission: Impossible films, such as a top-secret mission briefing delivered through a hearing aid. Cruise himself signed off on the use of footage from his movies.

The movie’s colourful premise and stars – including the late Richard Roundtree, and Malcolm McDowell – have it already tipped as one of the “buzziest” titles at this year’s Sundance festival, which champions independent filmmaking.

But it has a personal and poignant message for its director Josh Margolin, who named the film after his own grandmother Thelma, now 103.

She was tricked by a scammer into believing he had been in a car crash and needed bail money.

Thankfully, the real Thelma did not part with any money before his family rumbled the scheme, but the incident got Margolin thinking about what would have happened if she had sought justice – “something that I would not put past her!”

The movie also examines how society often underestimates the elderly and how as a grandson Margolin may “feel the urge to overprotect” out of love, even when his grandmother “is more capable than I give her credit for”.

Squibb also continues to work, with upcoming projects, including an American Horror Stories

series, and a film directed by Scarlett Johansson called Eleanor, Invisible.

After decades in which Hollywood was famously reluctant to give roles to even middle-aged actresses, Squibb believes that is finally changing.

“And I thank God for it!” she said, expressing hope that her own film will find a distributor at Sundance and eventually end up in theatres and on streaming.

Could there even be another Oscar nomination in store at last?

“Well, that would be lovely,” she said. “It was fun.” –