“These are the Crone Years”

All of the hydrating skincare products, cleansing face washes, and eye serums in the world can’t turn back the clock. And actress Judith Light doesn’t want to. In the past, the 73-year-old has said that she’s in “the best years of my life.” Now, in a recent interview with Salon Talks, the 73-year-old opened up about how women get “sidelined” in Hollywood for their age, and how she’s changing the way she views aging.

Her role in Shining Vale takes on the idea of aging and how we treat women in our culture as they get older. Light explained to Salon Talks that aging women are often “sidelined,” but what she finds to be the most important thing is to take “ownership of the years” and reframe how society looks at older women.

“I don’t hold it as aging. I hold it as gaining wisdom. If I’m the same as I was yesterday, then I’m not really learning anything. It’s not just the best time of my life, it’s this moment, so it better be the best,” she said. “These are the crone years. These are the wise years. These are the gathering of the experiences through time.”

She added that she knows there’s been an ongoing conversation around this very topic in Hollywood—but she encourages truly taking the time to be in the moment, finding purpose, and putting your energy into things that support yourself and those you care about.

“There’s nothing else except you and me and all of my fabulous friends here. This is it. This is all we have. And if you’re not embracing that fully . . . And so that’s the way I feel now in my life more than ever. And I would say that that’s probably what makes it best—that I’m more in the moment, as much as I can be,” she said.

As Light ages, she’s more and more excited to take on riskier roles, like her most recent one in The Menu. “Do you look back at your life and say, was I too scared to do something? Or do you do it, and then you find out that it’s all okay?” she asked in the interview.

This isn’t the first time Light has opened up about combating ageism in Hollywood. Earlier this year, the Julia star told Hoda Kotb and Justin Sylvester on Today that “you have to really pay attention. And you have to do what, we women, all of us have to do, which is to really stand up and to say, ‘We’re not over. Attention must be paid.’ Which is a great line from Death of a Salesman. It’s like you really have to say, ‘We are here, and there are stories about us that people actually want to see.’”

Light added that the ageism problem isn’t just Hollywood, but a societal issue that needs to be dealt with. “It’s not just Hollywood. It’s in our culture. It’s baked into our culture,” she said on Today. “And the more women that stand up … They’re saying, ‘We’re here and give us the work. And give us the stories.’”

We couldn’t have said it better ourselves.

Arielle Weg is the associate editor at Prevention and loves to share her favorite wellness and nutrition obsessions. She previously managed content at The Vitamin Shoppe, and her work has also appeared in Women’s Health, Men’s Health, Cooking Light, MyRecipes, and more. You can usually find her taking an online workout class or making a mess in the kitchen, creating something delicious she found in her cookbook collection or saved on Instagram.