Why Frances McDormand Hates Plastic Surgery

Frances McDormand

Camilla Morandi/Corbis

 

By Stephanie Emma Pfeffer @StephEmmaPfeff

10/17/2014 AT 08:30 AM EDT

Frances McDormand is aging. And unlike most people, she's perfectly fine with it.

"We are on red alert when it comes to how we are perceiving ourselves as a species," the Oscar-winning actress, 57, told The New York Times in an interview this week. "There's no desire to be an adult. Adulthood is not a goal. It's not seen as a gift."

"Something happened culturally: No one is supposed to age past 45 – sartorially, cosmetically, attitudinally," said McDormand, who is married to director Joel Coen. "Everybody dresses like a teenager. Everybody dyes their hair. Everybody is concerned about a smooth face."

Everyone except McDormand.

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"I have not mutated myself in any way," she said. "Joel literally has to stop me physically from saying something to people – to friends who've had work. I'm so full of fear and rage about what they've done."

In fact, she believes there is much to respect about the aging process. Looking older should signify "that you are someone who, beneath that white hair, has a card catalog of valuable information," she explained.

That's one of the reasons McDormand is relishing her latest role as the aging Olive Kitteridge in HBO's mini-series adaptation of the same name, based on the Pulitizer Prize-winning book by Elizabeth Strout.

The collection of short stories follows a married couple over the course of several decades as they face ordinary trials and tribulations. McDormand bought the rights to the book five years ago and helped assemble the creative team as one of the main producers.

58-year-old actress Frances McDormand has an amazing outlook on aging

Actress Frances McDormand is 58-years-old and unlike most of her Hollywood peers, she has decided to age naturally and gracefully without the help of a plastic surgeon.

In a new Yahoo interview with Katie Couric, the "Fargo" and "Almost Famous" star says it's hard to watch her colleagues alter their faces to look younger because "it erases everything."

Yahoo.com

McDormand, who has been married to director Joel Cohen for 32 years, says aging in Hollywood is a topic she often discusses with her husband.
 
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"We have a lot of conversations about aging and how difficult it is in our culture," McDormand tells Couric. "I go on rants about it, I get a little too zealous about it and he cautions me to remember that not everyone ages the same way and I've been fortunate that I'm happy with the way I look and how I age."

After not doing any press or promotion for her films for ten years, McDormand is finally putting herself back in the spotlight because of a message she wants to send younger women.
 
"A friend of mine said, 'younger women need you, they need your image and they need your voice, it's a selfish thing you're doing [by not speaking out],'" McDormand said during the Yahoo interview. 
In a 2014 New York Times profile, McDormand elaborated on our culture's "desire not to be an adult":

We are on red alert when it comes to how we are perceiving ourselves as a species. There's no desire to be an adult. Adulthood is not a goal. It's not seen as a gift. Something happened culturally: No one is supposed to age past 45 — sartorially, cosmetically, attitudinally. Everybody dresses like a teenager. Everybody dyes their hair. Everybody is concerned about a smooth face.

"I feel nostalgic for a time I didn't even have," she added. "The time before we regarded ourselves with such criticism."