Julia Louis-Dreyfus has a career that spans over four decades and in that time she became known as one of the greatest forces in television history. Today, she is and is glad for every bit of aging she’s gone through, calling youth something not worth all the hype.
In fact, when discussing her podcast, Wiser Than Me, which premiered last April, along with her career and aging, Julia called her 60s one of her favorite decades, second only to her 50s. Julia wants to put a spotlight on older women – not just to show that physically aging is beautiful, but that it also comes with invaluable wisdom younger generations can get from no other source.
Julia Louis-Dreyfusviews aging as better than youthfulness and full of more possibilities
When asked “What’s the best thing about getting older?” Julia had her answer ready and it was all about promoting aging with excitement. “It seems like more and more is possible,” she praised. “I’m excited to try new things work-wise. I’m excited to travel places and read books I haven’t read.”
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Indeed, while the 20s and 30s are looked at as a time when life truly begins, Julia prefers when she’s further down the road. Asked which was her favorite decade, she answered, “I’m really enjoying my 60s, but I would say my 50s.”
“And by the way, you know how much I loved it?” she added, before revealing, “I got breast cancer in my 50s and I still loved it. I just generally felt more confident about who I was as a human being.” In fact, as far as she’s concerned, “I think about when I was in my 20s. My God, that was hard. And people talk about it as if it’s the best time of your life: You’ve got your youth! Anything is possible! Well, there’s a flip side to that, too.”
The ‘Seinfeld’ alum wants everyone to pay attention to what older women have to say
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Because of the pearls of wisdom that come only with aging, Julia was baffled that more advice hasn’t been spread by the generation before; she’s been helped along by her mother but not much else, as far as she recalled.
“We’re certainly not in the habit of listening to old women who have had life experience,” she mused. “I mean, I would posit that our culture is much more inclined to listen to the wisdom of old men, specifically old white men.”
Her Wiser Than Me podcast aims to give older women a voice on a broader platform, though Julia hopes that their wisdom enjoys a listening ear without her boosting them up. She’s spoken to Carol Burnett, Darlene Love, Julie Andrews, Ina Garten, Patti Smith, and Isabel Allende, representing age ranges from 76 to 90. She’s asked blunt questions like “Do you feel sexy?” because, in Julia’s view, it just feels natural.
“With these women, it’s like, ‘Oh, who cares — here’s the truth,'” she explained. She heeds her own advice and listens to older women because she takes to heart what was said by chef Ruth Reichl, who is in her mid-70s, and advised, “you have to do things that scare you. You have to do things that you don’t know how to do.” Julia admits to some degree of nervousness every time she does the podcast, but that just means it’s the right thing to do. Through it all, she says, “I don’t want to blow it! I don’t want to miss the opportunity. And all of these women are people I admire.”
She also fully believes what Jane Fonda, 86, says: “People think it’s hard to be old, but it is so hard to be young.”
