Interview THE GOOD LIFE

ACTRESS ON THE PRIVILEGE OF AGING AND FINDING HER TRUE SELF.

JULIANNA MARGULIES

ulianna Margulies romanced George Clooney on

ER, played the fierce, resilient Alicia Florrick on

The Good Wife and had a recurring role on Billions.

Next month, she’ll add another title to her resume: memoir author. The award-winning actress and producer’s story is documented in Sunshine Girl: An Unexpected Life

(May 4, Ballantine), a project she says is among the things she’s most proud of—and the one that pushed her furthest outside of her comfort zone.

Penning a book for four years not only gave Margulies, 54, a chance to reflect on her past—including a childhood shuffled across continents with divorced parents, an eccentric mother, an absent father, a Hollywood career, complicated romantic relationships, finding love later in life (to husband, Keith Lieberthal) and becoming a mother at 41 (to son, Kieran, 13)—but also the ability to redefine her goals for her life’s second act.

“I hope [readers] understand that obstacles are put in their way for a reason,” she says. “And if you embrace the obstacle and look at it as a healthy challenge, it can actually change you and make you stronger.” Spry Living spoke to Margulies about the wisdom she’s gained throughout the years, finding the strength to say no to people and projects and why she loves spending time alone.

JThe one great thing we all have in common is that we’re all aging.

And isn’t that a privilege? Because if we weren’t aging, we’d be dead. I choose to look at it on the bright side. I’m so much better at 54 than I was at 34. We all are because you’ve licked the wounds, you’ve gone through the fires. When I hear people complaining about getting older, I’m like, “Yeah, it sucks because maybe I can’t run as fast as I used to. And maybe my eyes are going, but I’d rather be enlightened and wear a pair of glasses than be

completely blind to my own feelings.”

When you’re married, have a child and a job you love, it can be so easy to just go, go, go.

I was exhausted and rundown and developed chickenpox after wrapping The Good Wife. This taught me a tough lesson in slowing down. Before, I wouldn’t say no. “You’re giving me nine pages of dialogue to learn in 12 hours after I’ve been on set all day?

Let me see what I can do.” My biggest fear was always letting people down. But the only

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