Andie MacDowell has just returned home from three days of press for her Hallmark Channel series, The Way Home, when she greets me over Zoom from her Nancy Meyers-esque home in Kiawah Island, South Carolina. With her dog at her feet and landscapers outside, talk immediately turns to her serene surroundings, and how soon I can visit there.
“I have a really quiet spot [that my property is on] and don’t see another house, which is hard to find since it’s pretty populated for an island,” she says. “But that was my little gem that I found. I’m surrounded by trees, so that’s nice.”
If the 66-year-old actor and model never wanted to leave her little slice of heaven to travel anywhere again, you couldn’t blame her, but that’s not who Andie MacDowell is. Whether she’s jet-setting to the Cannes Film Festival with L’Oréal or to Toronto, Ontario to film The Way Home, the mom-of-three enjoys the frenetic pace.
But if anything, she’s just more purposeful about it now, choosing to work with people and brands who want to give her as much as she’s given them. “I have a lot of respect for Hallmark because they hire me, and I like to work,” she says. In fact, MacDowell has been loyal to Hallmark ever since she starred in their first scripted series, Cedar Cove, which premiered in 2013. “There is a unique feeling when work for them that you don’t really experience elsewhere. The fans, and that connection…you see the love they truly have for these characters and for the show. The creative experience brings a lot of joy to people, and that’s nice.”
Although The Way Home, which is currently airing is third season, was the most-watched original series on cable among women 18+ following its second season finale last year, MacDowell most makes news these days for her candid comments on aging and empowering stance on going gray.
“I don’t want people to have the expectation that I need to look younger to have value or to be beautiful or desirable,” she first told Vogue in 2021. Since then, she’s continued to rock her gorgeous silver curls on the carpet, and open up about not giving into diet culture.
MacDowell remembers a time recently where she could barely zip up a new outfit. She had it on for 10 minutes before she took it off. Then, as she was sleeping that night, she started to feel pain in her rib cage which prompted “newfound clarity in the morning,” she says. The result? Acknowledging she has “a great body” that doesn’t need to change for a look.
But now, the actor best known for roles in Four Weddings and a Funeral, Groundhog Day, and much more, wants to shed light on something else that’s frustrating her: the lack of smart, leading roles centered on mature women. Hollywood is evolving, yes, but not soon enough, and not in the way it needs to be, MacDowell tells me.
“Don’t do cliché older people,” she says. “That’s all I really care about. There are a lot of older women down here [in South Carolina], and they’re doing fantastic things with their lives. They’re making things happen.”
And so is MacDowell. For Glamour‘s latest edition of Icons Only, she expands on that topic, as well as why it’s important to take back the word matronly (“Why can’t I be matronly in a gorgeous, powerful way?”), and which one of her kids she wishes she would have listened to more.
Glamour: Your full name is Rosalie Anderson MacDowell. When did you change it, and why?
Andie MacDowell: I moved to New York in 1979. I went into Elite one day and some of the girls had naked pictures, and I was real embarrassed. So, at first I was afraid to walk in. But I did, and a model scout said, “Who are you?” I told her, “I’m Rose MacDowell.” She said, “Come with me” and she looked through my book. And then she said, “When can you move here?” I said, “Two weeks,” just like that, not knowing. I thought I could get it together by two weeks.
And so I went home, told my dad. He did not like the idea. It’s the only time I ever stood up to my father, because he was quite…he wasn’t mean, but dignified, respectful. He said, “You’re not doing that.” And I said, “I’m sorry, Daddy, but I’m going to go.” I had $2,000. I bought a Ralph Lauren suit. I was so naive. I was so small town, I had no clue. I spent most of the money on the Ralph Lauren suit. It was a pencil skirt; how stupid.
And where were you going to live in New York given that you just spent most of your money on this suit?
Oh, I just finagled my way. You have to be quite savvy. So anyway, in the agency, they said I looked too ethnic, too European. This is 1979. We hadn’t quite opened up yet. The world had not opened up to dark-headed girls. Everybody was blonde, blue-eyed.
They wanted to change my name, so they called me Mac for a few days, for MacDowell. It never really resonated with me and made me feel kind of odd. So I went back in and said, “Look, my middle name’s Anderson. My sister used to call me Andie as a joke. How about Andie?” And they said, “Sure, that’s great.” So I was just Andie, no MacDowell, until I started doing movies. But my friends still call me Rose.
How did you feel about that?
It didn’t bother me. I was so in awe of everything. I had so much to learn. My greatest gift was being able to pay attention and watch people and figure it out.
I didn’t own anything. I didn’t have anything. I didn’t know anything. So everything was interesting to me, and then I moved to Paris right away. I did modeling work for Glamour, actually.
Yes, you did. So, given what you went through as a young woman, how did that then influence you as a parent to Margaret and Rainey? Did you give them more freedom?
Definitely. I wish I had listened to Rainey more than I actually did, because a lot of times she had better ideas than I realized, and I regret that. Margaret, I just couldn’t stop her. There was no way. She wrote me a letter when she went to North Carolina School of the Arts for dance in the 10th grade. She found the professional school on her own. She went to two modeling agencies on her own. She said, “I would like to try something new. I’ve devoted my whole life to dance.” And I said, “Of course.” And I let her. I got her an apartment. I think people in my little town thought I was crazy. It was a lot to let someone do that at such a young age, but it gave her so many life skills.
Letting your kids be different than you is the best way to be an adult parent, and it’s important to appreciate that they are different than you. Learn from them, instead of trying to make them like you.
How are you most different from your daughters?
I definitely worry more. Rainey is just such a unique artist, and sometimes I might try to box her in a little bit. She’s the greatest gift of my life, because my life will never be boring because of her. She’s original.
Which of your movies are your kids’ favorites?
I got a lot of compliments after Green Card. I think she loved the subtlety of my work in that film. I remember [my son] Justin watching Unstrung Heroes, and he said, “It made me really sad when [your character] died.” He had no association with me. And I thought, “Oh, that’s really good.” He was lost in the character.
Which film holds the most special place in your heart?
I would say Groundhog Day, because I feel like it’s a perfect movie. I don’t think there’s an untrue moment in it. It got into the Smithsonian. It’s not the kind of movie, unfortunately, that the Academy would’ve recognized or whatever, but I do feel like it is a masterpiece. And [director] Harold Ramis was the nicest man I ever worked with. But I don’t know why that style of film could be not as highly appreciated as perhaps films that do get appreciated. I think it’s a perfect movie. It’s actually very Buddhist. It’s deep. It’s not a shallow movie.
I do feel like my work in it is very subtle, very honest, very true. And that’s what I needed to do, because Bill Murray’s so broad. It was like yin and yang. It made it work perfect. If I was trying to be funny, it would’ve ruined it. I gave him all the opportunity to do everything he wanted to do, and I just did my job by staying honest and real and truthful. And that’s what makes it really work.
What do you think of when I say St. Elmo’s Fire?
Kirby Keager (Emilio Estevez) and Dale Biberman (MacDowell). I’ve even had people yell those names to me. I laugh, or I’ll say, “Where is Kirby Keager?” or something like that. So many things come back to me. I just remember they were a real gang. I lived in New York, and the rest of the cast lived in Los Angeles. I was in awe of them, and a little intimidated. I remember being in Georgetown and watching Demi Moore dance and thinking she was such a great dancer. She had so much freedom. It was fun to be around them.
Let’s talk about Sex, Lies, and Videotape.
Oh, so many things. That was a great experience. It was just such a wonderful character to get to play because it’s hard to find characters like that. Maid was the next closest thing; really juicy.
I had my son with me, and I had just gotten pregnant with Rainey. I didn’t want to lose the job, so I didn’t tell anybody. I was about two months along.
Would you be more open now?
Yes, because I was more pregnant with Unstrung Heroes. Diane Keaton directed me in Unstrung Heroes, and I was pregnant with Margaret. It was going to be like my fifth month working, so I was scared. And [Diane] asked me to be in it because I was the first person they thought of. I love that script, and I love her, so I really wanted to do it. But I told her, “I’m pregnant,” because I couldn’t pretend I wasn’t. With Rainey I could.
It was early.
The only thing I had was nice boobs.
Was there ever a role that you turned down because of family obligations?
Probably, but nothing I really remember. I’ll tell you a story that explains why I had the confidence I had. I was very maternal. I went to a party and met this actress who was talking about how she didn’t have kids because she kept putting it off for her career, and then it was too late. And I thought to myself, “That’s not going to be me.” Right at that moment, “It’s not going to be me.” I was really ready to have children. I was from a small town. I already felt like I was old at 27. I did. And I was just going to do it. It was my priority over career.
But here’s the funny thing: I would never have said that. I always pretended like my career was the most important thing. You never wanted someone to think that you weren’t going to show up 100%. But the truth of the matter is my kids were more important to me. Although things are better now, at the time I had to think about how much my kids could be on set and how much I’d talk about them. I had to really look super focused, like I wasn’t always thinking about them. You had to worry about those things. But now, there’s a lot of men that have evolved. I’ve seen a lot of changes that I wish I had been around [when I was a young mom]. It’s sad to hear that people are still struggling. It’s almost like we make progress, and then they push us back and we have to fight all over again for the same silly things.
It’s so true. There was a lot of great things that came out of the pandemic—from remote work to an emphasis on our mental health and spending more time with family. It feels like we’re going backward again when we had gained so much perspective of what works best for families and individuals.
Right. I had a problem with that whole revival or trend of the word “demure.” I really struggled with that because we fought so hard not to have to behave like that. And I was like, “Where is this energy coming from?”
Even though the word was used to poke fun at itself, I also hate the word “girlies,” which has become a big thing. Like, what are we, 10? Why are we all of a sudden categorized into pop culture girlies and sports girlies and makeup girlies?
I have a story for you that involves all of this. After I had Rainey, I was working for L’Oréal. When I got pregnant with Justin, I had to tell L’Oréal I was pregnant. They had just offered me the contract, and they kept me. There were times when I was afraid that I would lose something. That was one time I didn’t lose it. I worked a lot for them doing ads. Anyway, after I had Rainey, I was with working with photographer Irving Penn, and my milk had come in and my tits were gigantic.
Irving would shoot in the morning, send the photographs out, get them back, and then look to decide which direction they would like. [But one day] he took me into his office and told me I looked matronly. And do you know that feeling in your throat?
Mm-hmm.
That was in my throat. I could barely speak. I told him I would lose weight. But he said, “We can’t shoot today. You look too matronly.” So I left, and I tried to start losing weight. In fact, someone important told me I looked too matronly after my hair went silver. But at this point, I was so much more mature in who I was that I really didn’t care what they thought, because I liked my hair and I thought I looked fabulous. But why do we have this distaste for women and the word matronly?
Why can’t it be like demure? I’m matronly. That is what I am. Why can’t I be matronly in a gorgeous, powerful, respectful, glamorous way? Why does it always have to be about being weak in order to be beautiful: demure, soft, coquette? Why does it always have to be that? Because that’s not the male gaze. Right? And it’s not saying that I don’t want to also have moments when I’m perceived as sexy, because I do.
A thousand percent.
I’ve got to take really good care of myself. I’ve got a great body, and I can still do all that. But there comes a time when I am what I am. So, I have a real powerful experience with that word. It has been in my life for a long time.
Completely understandable. Before we run out of time, I want to talk about Four Weddings and a Funeral.
I was in London for Groundhog Day, and I had a meeting with [director] Mike Newell and I think [screenwriter] Richard Curtis, too. I think I met them out at a bar, and my job was to convince them that I was the right person. I got the job.
I don’t usually watch dailies (footage) because I’m very hard on myself, and I don’t want to get weird, but I saw some dailies. The Holy Spirit scene…I just was like, “This is going to be huge.” Hugh Grant was so charming. It was just adorable. I forget how much we made the movie for. Maybe four million? And it was just hugely, hugely successful.
The script was perfect. It’s hard to find scripts like that, especially at my age, to get anything that’s perfect. But I had my day. I had my day when I was very fortunate to work on a lot of great scripts.
That makes me sad because I do feel like this industry is getting better with offering roles that aren’t…
It’s not even offering. They just don’t write them. If you watch TV, I always tell everybody, just watch how often you see a person of age, because they’re rare. The people they’re going to write about are going to be in their twenties or thirties or forties. You can be a character in [a series], but rarely will a show be written about mature people. People are not interested in mature people, sadly.
I do think that there is the opportunity for interesting characters out there. They’re just not writing them.
That’s why I was so glad Margo Martindale was in The Sticky on Prime Video because she was number one on the call sheet and she is 73. I want to see more of that.
Right, or at least interesting characters. Keep them vibrant. Make them unique. Don’t do cliché older people. That’s all I really care about. Give me something interesting to do. I’m around a lot of women. There are a lot of older women down here, and they’re doing fantastic things with their lives. They’re working on conservation. They’re making things happen. They have so much wisdom and knowledge. They’re mentoring younger people. They’re very vital and interesting.
Would you ever write something, or team up with someone to write?
I’ve thought about it. I have ideas. I did do something with someone, and it was close to happening, but I don’t know what happened. Just because you write it doesn’t mean it’s going to happen, unfortunately. You have to get someone to believe in it.
Earlier, you mentioned how special Maid was, especially since you got to work with Margaret. What sticks with you from that experience?
It was such an interesting character, and I was always just wanting my daughter to believe me. She played it so subtly, and I’m broad, but that’s my character.
We had some really wonderful moments [even] when I’m just so cruel to her. But I felt really comfortable because I knew she knew I didn’t feel that way. The series meant a lot to a lot of different people, and that meant a lot to me.
Before we go, let’s play some rapid fire questions: What former co-star do you still send holiday cards to?
I don’t send holiday cards to anyone.
What is something you’ll never spend any money on?
Drugs. I might go into one of those shops for some marijuana to help me sleep, but I’m not going to buy drugs.
What’s something you don’t mind spending money on?
I love fashion, like new clothes. I’m terrible. I’m a sucker for cashmere sweaters. I can’t help it. Sometimes I can dress like where I am and then I’ll go out and go, “Oh, I should have gotten cool looking pants to go to LA.” I guess that’s from my modeling years. I was so lucky to get to wear all those beautiful clothes.
You can wear anything. You can wear a paper sack and make it look cool.
That’s sweet. But I don’t want to.
[Laughs] Who haven’t you worked with that you’d still love to act with?
I always wanted to work with Christopher Walken, but I don’t know what he’s doing anymore. I wouldn’t mind working with Meryl. I mean, come on. You’re going to wish for something.
Why can’t we have a series with you and Meryl Streep living on Kiawah Island? You don’t have to leave your home. Meryl can stay at your house.
Right. Sounds like a plan.
Lastly, what are you looking forward to in this new year?
Personal growth, since that’s the only thing we can control. I have things that I would like to improve on. I’ve got X amount of time left here, and I’ve got some behaviors and emotions I’m tired of and am ready to grow. I just want to elevate myself to a place where I feel like I have evolved and become almost everything I want to be. That’s my goal for 2025.
This interview has been edited for space and clarity.
The post Andie MacDowell Has a Message for Hollywood: Stop with the Older Women Clichés appeared first on Glamour.
