Best Face Forward

A week ago I watched the Academy Awards. Scores of beautiful women walked down the red carpet, looking glamorous in their designer gowns. But one woman stood out in the crowd. Helen Mirren wore a fabulous red dress, the sleeves encrusted with Swarovski crystals, her stunning white hair styled in a chic bob. This 60-something-year-old actress was positively regal and obviously comfortable in her un-tucked skin. (Try as I might, I could not find a photo on the net of Ms. Mirren at this year's Oscars. But the photo to the left is from last year, when she looked just as gorgeous.)

Over the weekend, my husband and I saw the movie Vantage Point. (This will all tie together, I promise.) The first few scenes are dominated by the wonderfully talented Sigourney Weaver. As I watched her on the gigantor screen, her face as tall as a... well, however tall those screens are... I was struck by the beauty of this woman. Another fantastic actress who is secure enough to age in real time. She has some lines, she has some wrinkles, but more than that, her face has character.

I'm sure you've guessed by now that I'm not a fan of the plastic surgery trend that is sweeping Hollywood and beyond. I know it's nothing new. But I'm shocked by the extremely talented actresses that have fallen into the nip/tuck trap. I recently saw two actresses that I have admired for years on a talk show. These are A-list ladies, the kind that I thought surely would be comfortable enough in their own skin to leave it alone. But it was sadly obvious that both of them had work done. And maybe that's the worst part. Because not only did they not look like a younger version of themselves, they didn't look like themselves, period.

Helen Mirren has always been quite a looker. The photo to the left is from 1965 when she did Cleopatra. Then there's Sigourney Weaver. She's always been more of a quirky, exotic beauty, but a beauty none-the-less. The picture to the right is from 1989. Either one of these women could easily have been seduced by the promise of eternal youth. "We can snip, nip and lift until the day you die. No one will ever know how old you are!" But they didn't fall for it. And I pray they won't... please, talented women of the screen, please grow old as yourself, not some Barbie doll fantasy person!