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By Kat Giantis
For MSN Entertainment
There are many things that get better with age -- a good bottle of vino, a work of art, a pair of Levi's, the comedy stylings of Ryan Seacrest. But while fine wines are always highly coveted, fine lines are not. In Hollywood, where youth and beauty are more prized than an invite to Brad and Jen's, celebrating a birthday is about the worst career move a female star can make. Around town, the f-word spouted with the most disdain is "forty."
But there are certain celebrities who have blown past the big 4-0 without so
much as a backwards glance, and have proved there's no expiration date on
talent, beauty, and personal growth. Below are a dozen women who have inspired
us by fearlessly tackling Father Time--and kicking his ass.
Julianne Moore,
43
Why She Inspires Us: It's hard enough to
find work as an actress if you're not in your teens or 20s, yet the fearless
Moore, with her unlined peaches-and-cream complexion and flame-red hair, is
still ascending, zeroing in on meaty roles in large and small productions and
confounding those who would try to typecast her. Last year, she earned double
Oscar nods for her work in "The Hours" and "Far from Heaven," and yet still managed to maintain a
personal life, marrying longtime love Bart Freundlich (he's nine years younger),
with whom she has two children (Caleb, 6, and Liv, 22
months).
Words of Wisdom: "There's nothing that makes me
feel more accomplished than my children," Moore told the LA Daily News. "Being a
mother is a magnificent experience, a privilege."
What the Future
Holds: Julianne will go toe-to-toe with Pierce Brosnan in the romantic comedy "Laws of Attraction," opening April 30. She's also set to
star opposite Matthew Broderick in the indie flick "Marie and Bruce," and
will play a grieving mother in "The Forgotten."
Jodie Foster, 41
Why She Inspires Us: Unlike many of her fellow child
stars, Foster made a healthy transition into adulthood: She earned a degree from
Yale (magna cum laude, natch), won two Oscars, directed a couple of
well-received movies, and proved her good taste and intelligence by turning down
a massive paycheck for the less than stellar "Silence of the Lambs" sequel "Hannibal." And in a town that thrives on publicity, Foster
has fiercely (and successfully) guarded her privacy, determined to live as
normal a life as possible with sons Charles and Kit, whose lineage she declines
to detail.
Words of Wisdom: "I didn't want to be the
beautiful girlfriend or the ingénue," she told People of her career
aspirations.
What the Future Holds: Foster will give her
French a workout in Jean-Pierre Jeunet's World War I romantic drama "A Very Long
Engagement" and will direct the long-in-the-works circus drama "Flora Plum,"
starring fellow Yalies Claire Danes and Meryl Streep.
Madonna, 45
Why She Inspires Us: Through sheer force of will,
she's remained consistently popular for two decades, transitioning from cone
bras to children's books (and having two children of her own, Lourdes and
Rocco). Despite her lack of success on the big screen, Madonna still knows how
to kick up a fuss (e.g. tongue-wrestling with Britney and Christina) without taking the titillation too far.
Words of Wisdom: Madonna, who married director Guy Ritchie in 2000, told Access Hollywood last year, "Ultimately, if you have a strong relationship, and there is understanding of what a committed marriage is, I don't think that having a lot of media attention can break it up."
What the Future Holds: Madonna will wisely stay behind the
scenes to produce several upcoming films, including one based on the 1971
Stanford Prison Experiment. Also on the horizon: "Lotsa de Casha," the latest in
her self-penned series of kids' tomes, and a concert tour, which is tentatively
set to kick off June 1 in San Francisco and could include a stop in
Israel.
Demi Moore, 41
Why She Inspires Us: Two words: Ashton Kutcher. When Demi hooked up with the "Punk'd" pretty boy, who is 15 years her junior, she unwittingly sparked a cultural shift in how women of a certain age are perceived. Suddenly, it didn't seem so strange for a May-September romance to work in the other direction. In addition, Moore has provided a blueprint on how to have a civil Hollywood divorce. She and ex-husband Bruce Willis have three daughters Rumer, Scout, and Tallulah.
Words of Wisdom: "Time is an amazing equalizer," she told Entertainment Weekly last June. "I think if you stay true to yourself and keep moving forward, things come around."
What the Future Holds: Quality time with her kids and her
man. After the crush of press for her bikini-clad comeback role in the
disappointing "Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle," Demi is taking a breather.
"I don't feel a rush," she told EW. "I feel pretty comfortable just sitting
where I am. Life is good."
Sheryl Crow, 42
Why She Inspires Us: She's no Britney--and couldn't be
happier about it. Her 2002 album, "C'mon, C'mon," was a blockbuster that netted her five Grammy
nominations and cemented her status as a rock force to the reckoned with. Crow's
recent best-of collection is still burning up the charts, and she's currently
hot and heavy with five-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong, who's nearly
a decade her junior.
Words of Wisdom: "I'm at a point in
the game where I'm standing at a crossroads," she told In Style in 2003. "And I
feel like my best work is ahead of me."
What the Future
Holds: Crow has been spending quality time with Armstrong at his house
in Spain, studying Spanish and writing songs for her next album. "I'm afraid the
next album will be entirely about Lance," she told Sports Illustrated in
February. "It's going to be the sappiest thing ever written." Also look for her
on the March 2 episode of the WB's teen drama "One Tree Hill," where she'll
perform her hit single "The First Cut Is Always the Deepest."
Kim Cattrall, 48
Why She Inspires Us: Have you seen Kim's six-pack abs? As sexually liberated Samantha on "Sex and the City," she was constantly doffing her duds to reveal her killer bod. The actress also displayed new depths during Samantha's battle with breast cancer during the show's final season, but she still went out the way she came in--with a bang.
Words of Wisdom: "It's no real mystery that women of a certain age tend not to exist in Hollywood," Cattrall told Newsweek in February. "Before this show, I was dealing with that. There were no roles for 40-year-olds, and if there was, it went to Michelle Pfeiffer. I love Michelle, but what about the rest of us?"
What the Future Holds: A "Sex" movie is in the works, though Cattrall hasn't yet signed on the dotted line. She's also started her own production company, which is developing a documentary for HBO titled, appropriately enough, "Sexual Intelligence."
