Celebrities who are unapologetically aging with confidence

Celebrities are often known to keep their youth and beauty alive, however, there are few who are confidently embracing their age and they don’t shy away.

Celebrities such as Meryl Streep focuses on her craft and self-confidence and and Drew Barrymore values authenticity and embraces her natural aging process.

These names are among the list of celebrities who are shattering the stigma of aging, proving that growing older can be a powerful and liberating experience.

So, here is a list of celebrities who are unapologetically aging with confidence:

1. Angelina Jolie

The 50-year-old actress’ stance on aging is characteristically sophisticated as she once told British Vogue, "I do like being older. I feel much more comfortable in my forties than I did when I was younger."

Jolie added, "Maybe because… I don’t know… maybe because my mom didn’t live very long, so there’s something about age that feels like a victory instead of a sadness for me.”

According to the Maria star, she is looking forward to her fifties and she feels that she is going to hit her stride.

2. Meryl Streep

The 76-year-old actress views aging as a natural process of growth, and freedom from youth's pressures.

Streep once said, "Aging is not for the weak. One day you wake up and realize that your youth is gone, but along with it, so go insecurity, haste, and the need to please... You learn to walk more slowly, but with greater certainty.”

The Only Murders in the Building actress added, "You say goodbye without fear, and you cherish those who stay. Aging means letting go, it means accepting, it means discovering that beauty was never in our skin... but in the story we carry inside us."

3. Beyoncé

The All the Single Ladies hitmaker once wrote in a handwritten note on her 40th birthday, which shared on her official website that read: "This is the first year that I really understand what it means to be alive and to live in the moment."

The now 43-year-old singer went on to say, "It's the first time that I have an understanding of how fragile life truly is, how hard life can be at times, and therefore how important it is to stop and smell the roses during the good times.

“Then I thought I knew that at 21 or 30...but I didn't. The more mature I become, the more I understand and the deeper my joy grows...I'm finally giving myself permission to enjoy the seeds I've worked so hard to plant my whole life.

"Whoever tried to condition women to feel that we are supposed to feel old or unhappy when we turn 40 got it ALL THE WAY F'd UP," Beyonce ended her note.

4. Pamela Anderson

Anderson made her public makeup-free debut at Paris Fashion Week in September 2023.

"Once I put the clothing on, I thought, ‘I’d rather go for a walk and look at the architecture of Paris than sit in the makeup chair for three hours,'" the 58-year-old actress told Vogue.

Moreover, when asked about aging in a recent TikTok interview, the Baywatch actress responded, "I like to say the word ‘life-ing’ instead of aging.”

The The Last Showgirl performer went on to say, "Chasing youth is just futile. You're never going to get there, so why not just embrace what's going on? And since I've really just walked out the door as me, I feel a relief, just a weight off my shoulders. and I actually like it better."

5. Sarah Jessica Parker

The 59-year-old actress told Vogue in 2021, "There’s so much misogynist chatter in response to us that would never. Happen. About. A. Man."

Parker, referring to the ageist commentary around the Sex and the City reboot And Just Like That, went on to say, "‘Gray hair gray hair gray hair. Does she have gray hair?’ I’m sitting with Andy Cohen."

The Footloose star went on, "And he has a full head of gray hair, and he’s exquisite. Why is it okay for him? I don’t know what to tell you people! Especially on social media.

"Everyone has something to say. ‘She has too many wrinkles, she doesn’t have enough wrinkles.’ It almost feels as if people don’t want us to be perfectly okay with where we are, as if they almost enjoy us being pained by who we are today, whether we choose to age naturally and not look perfect, or whether you do something if that makes you feel better. I know what I look like. I have no choice. What am I going to do about it? Stop aging? Disappear?"

6. Gwyneth Paltrow

The Iron Man performer once told People, "Unfortunately, we’re always looking at ourselves with a critical eye."

Paltrow added, "I would love to get to a place where I don’t do that anymore. I want to show up for myself in a more loving way, because it’s all going south from here! There’s nothing we can do about it."

The actress, who will soon star in Marty Supreme which also stars Timothée Chalamet, added, "For me, as I go through the aging process and really start it, I realize it’s less about, ‘Oh, I have this wrinkle, am I going to fix it or not?’ And more, ‘Do I feel vibrant?’ I would never want to go back to my 20s, or even my 30s for that matter. I know myself, I like myself, and I am so grateful for the wisdom that comes with age."

7. Reese Witherspoon

Witherspoon, who has been vocal about preferring her 40s to her 20s, once told Allure, "I've had a whole bunch of experiences, and I can speak with a thoughtfulness about the changes I'd like to see in the world, and...I just feel like I earned that gray hair and my fine lines. I like 'em."

Moreover, during a 2021 interview with InStyle, the 49-year-old actress doubled down on the point, saying, "I'm 45. I know who I want to spend time with and who I don't."

The Legally Blonde star further added, "And that is one of the great things about getting older — it just clears out so much space. I want to be with my mom, my kids, and the people who fill my tank. And everybody else, I wish them well."

8. Juliane Moore

The 64-year-old actress told As If, "There’s so much judgment inherent in the term ‘aging gracefully.’ Is there an ungraceful way to age? We don’t have an option, of course. No one has an option about aging, so it’s not a positive or a negative thing, it just is. It’s part of the human condition, so why are we always talking about it as if it is something that we have control over?"

9. Halle Berry

Once, Berry told AARP, "We’re all going to get older. Our skin is going to shrivel up and we’re going to look different. I see things changing with my face and body, but I’ve never put all my eggs in that basket."

"I’ve always known that beauty is deeper than the physical body you’re walking around in," the 59-year-old actress said, adding, "I refuse to become someone who just tries to hold onto a youthful face and not embrace what’s most important about being beautiful—how you live your life, how you give back to others, how you connect to people, how you strengthen your mind, body, and soul and nourish yourself, how you give in a meaningful way of yourself."

The John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum performer added, “The most beautiful people have something radiating inside. Women are told that when we reach a certain number, we’re no longer valuable.

"I believe the opposite. Society should look at us as jewels as we get older. Because the older women get, the more formidable we are."

10. Helen Mirren

The 79-year-old actress once replied to Vogue when the magazine asked her thoughts on the notion of “aging gracefully” in Hollywood, saying, "It’s much better to age disgracefully! Take it on the chin, and roll with it.”

"You die young, or you get older. There is nothing in between! You may as well enjoy it," Mirren added.

The actress also recalled her moher’s saying, sharing, "My mother once said, ‘Never worry about getting older, ‘I know the thought of you being 45 when you’re 25 is, Oh, my god! Who wants to be 45? But it’s amazing because when you get to be 45, you’ll realize it’s actually very cool and you don’t want to be 25 again.’"

The British actress went on to say, "And I have to say, she was absolutely right. With every age comes advantages and disadvantages. And you tend to find that you don’t want to go back. You want to be exactly where you are with everything you’ve experienced."