SUSAN SARANDON
The Thelma & Louise actress finds new success at age 70!
Being bad is so much more fun than being good,” Susan Sarandon said with a big laugh on The Tonight Show on Aug. 14. Looking glam in a chic cream jumpsuit, she delightedly talked about her latest role as controlling Hollywood studio head Samantha Winslow on Ray Donovan, who’s caught up in a blackmailing scheme. “I get to be exactly the opposite of who I am,” Susan says. “It’s so much fun!”
It’s no wonder she’s having a good time. Defying the usual struggle of actresses over 40 to find good roles, the Oscar winner’s career is hotter than ever. She has five new projects coming up, including an eagerly anticipated spin-off of The Big Lebowski. “I really am having a good time,” raves Susan, who’s also celebrating her Emmy nomination for playing Bette Davis in Feud. At 70, Susan is more comfortable with herself than she’s ever been. “A couple of years ago, I asked her if she thinks she’s sexy in a different way than she was in the Rocky Horror Picture Show,” a friend of Susan’s tells Closer. “She said, ‘When I see myself younger, I seem so blank. I think I’m more interesting as I get older.’ ”
Bill Newcott, film critic and creator of AARP’s Movies for Grownups, agrees. “Undoubtedly her ability to move among such wildly different types of roles has a lot to do with her ability to stay so busy,” he tells Closer. “But I think her legacy will be in how she proved that true sexiness is ageless.”
WOMAN ON TOP
While Susan hasn’t shied away from taking unglamorous roles, like Sister Helen Prejean in 1995’s Dead Man Walking, offscreen she enjoys looking like a star, albeit naturally. “She hasn’t had plastic surgery yet,” her friend confides. But Susan notes, she doesn’t question women who do opt to nip and tuck. “Women have the right to do whatever they want to their bodies that make them feel good about themselves,” she has said.
Susan’s daughter, Eva Amurri Martino, 32, gave her a tangible fashion assist recently by hiring her mom a stylist “who supports Susan’s desire to look and act sexy at 70,” reveals the friend. But more than contributing to her red-carpet glam, Susan’s family keeps her vibrant with their support. “Her three children are her first love,” Susan’s friend says of Eva and her sons with ex Tim Robbins, Jack Henry, 28, and Miles, 25. Their “needs are a priority,” Susan has said. As are the needs of Eva’s daughter Marlowe, 3, who calls Susan “Honey” at her request — no “Grandma” or “Granny” for her! “She’s really a funny kid,” Susan says. “She’s fierce and strong.”
Just like Honey, who works hard to stay healthy by eating well, exercising and deep breathing. “She likes to visualize herself being a better self,” says her friend. Part of that is continuing to work and speaking out on causes she believes in. “She has no fear of being put out to pasture,” her friend notes.
And Susan plans to keep what’s truly important in perspective: “I’m going to be a mother much longer than I’m going to be an actor,” she says. “So you have to live an authentic, kind life. That’s all I’m striving for.”
— Lisa Chambers