For the August/September cover story of AARP The Magazine, acting legends and stars of the new film, “Hope Springs,” Meryl Streep and Tommy Lee Jones discuss the often taboo subject of mid-life sexuality and what it means to be ‘old’ in Hollywood.
The Academy Award winners speak openly about their new movie, opening nationwide Friday, finding passion at any age, finally learning to live for the moment and why “nobody can tell [them] anything!”
On what drew them to Hope Springs:
Streep: “I like things that seem like they have a problem…Built into it was something really funny but lodged in something very real. This script was on one of those lists in Holly wood—the 40 best unproduced movies of the decade, or something. And you read it and understood a) why it was good and b) why nobody wanted to do it.”
Jones: “At long last, I had a chance to work with Meryl, so there was no question in my mind that I wanted to do it.”
On identifying with their characters:
Streep: “I believed my gal. I believed who she was, and I felt like I knew her and loved her. I just could see the world through her eyes.”
On their prolific careers:
Streep: “I think there’s not a sell-by date on actors…But you also understand what a crapshoot it is and how serendipity plays a huge part. It’s not a piece of cake by any means.”
Jones: “I’ve been lucky and happy. I’ve made some bad movies. And I really enjoyed it!”
On finding passion at any age:
Jones: “I don’t do anything that is not fun. I just don’t do it. I’m a hedonist.”
Streep: “I find the older I get, the more intense my appetite for living and for appreciating life gets…You realize you’ve got just seconds.”
On being “bored” in a relationship:
Streep: “If you’re bored with somebody, it’s because you’re bored with yourself. If you have a problem with somebody, often it’s something in yourself.”
On endlessly pursuing their passions:
Streep: “I like everything. There’s just not anything I don’t like to do. That’s the problem. It means I’m very distractible.”
Jones: “I like being a director, and I’m never going to stop being an actor.”
On passing the acting torch to their children:
Streep: “I’m delighted that we can share some things and that I have some experience that can be of comfort to her.”
Jones: “It makes you feel good when your kids choose to do the thing that you do even as much as you come home and complain about it.”