Seymour on finding new love in her mid-60s: No Tinder
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LOS ANGELES — Jane Seymour was in her mid-60s when her husband of 20 years decided it was over. The actress was floored.
“I had a long marriage and never thought it was going to end,” the 68-yearold said recently while promoting the second season of Netflix’s “The Kominsky Method,” costarring Michael Douglas and Alan Arkin.
“I’m going, ‘I what? I date? What? Are you crazy? How does this work?“’ Seymour said. “And then my kids would say, ‘Mom, there’s this thing called Tinder.’ And I’m like, ‘No, that’s not going to happen.’ ”
But similar to her character in “The Kominsky Method” who runs into an old flame, fate intervened, and Seymour stumbled upon new romance. She has been with boyfriend and British film director David Green since 2014, about a year after her divorce from filmmaker James Keach, who directed “Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman,” Seymour’s iconic role.
“(He) had been in a long marriage and his marriage ended,” she said. “It wasn’t his choice — and my marriage ended, it wasn’t my choice. And we randomly met accidentally 38 years later and realized we were free, and we’ve been together ever since. So I do not have to date.”
Her experience drew Seymour to “The Kominsky Method,” in which she plays Madelyn, who reconnects with Arkin’s character (Norman) at a funeral following the deaths of their spouses.
“I do get this whole thing of having a relationship with someone that’s a contemporary, you know?” Seymour said. “We’re both dealing with older children, exes and our future how long will we live? How can we stay healthy? How can we tick off our bucket list? Do we still want to work or do we feel like we’ve only just started, which is the case with me and David.”
The Emmy- and Golden Globe-winning actress has four children and two stepchildren from her four marriages.
On top of acting and a one-woman art show in Washington, D.C., she writes books, runs a nonprofit and produces movies.
“I do what I do because I love it,” she said. “I don’t think of it ever as a job. It’s called living. So I don’t see retiring.
“You don’t retire from life.”
Seymour said she’s one of the lucky actresses who’ve landed great roles after 40.
“Hollywood’s been pretty good to me, actually,” she said. “Back in the day, they used to say if you’re a woman and you’re 40, you’re done. Well, when I was 40, I got ‘Dr. Quinn.’ So that’s when I started.”
Nov. 30 birthdays: Director Ridley Scott is 82. Singer-actor Mandy Patinkin is 67. Guitarist Shuggie Otis is 66. Singer Billy Idol is 64. Comedian Colin Mochrie (”Whose Line Is It Anyway?”) is 62. Actor-director Ben Stiller is 54. Singer Clay Aiken is 41. Actress Elisha Cuthbert is 37. Actress Kaley Cuoco is 34. Model Chrissy Teigen is 34.