Recently named as Forbes' ‘Most Powerful Celebrity In The World'. Jennifer Lopez has found herself in the enviable position of being at the very top of her game at the age of 42 - absolutely stomping all over the notion that women in entertainment are over the Hollywood hill by the time they hit 40. Having raked in an impressive Dh187 million last year, J-Lo is rumoured to be in intense negotiations with American Idol to renew her contract for a reported Dh54 million - what Britney received for her role on X Factor - is set to embark on a summer tourof the US and has two new movies in production.
So, what's happening in Hollywood that the hottest, most powerful women are all in their 40s and beyond? reveals how the most stunning (older) women in Hollywood feel about ageing gracefully and retaining their power…
Jennifer power
"It's a great time to be an actress," says Jennifer. "It seems like you can work and do anything at any age… It's a great time that people are just seeing people's souls." Adding of the industry, "It's not so superficial any more. Women have proven that they are viable in this business, as well, and it doesn't matter if you're not21 years old. It just matters that you're great at what you do. And that's exciting."
And J-Lo's latest NBF, Jennifer Aniston, has long espoused how much better she feels in her 40s, than she ever has before.
"[My 40s are] great!" the 43-year-old told GQ. "Oh, my god, my 30s blew! Forties are great. Well, I recently quit smoking, and you do put on some extra pounds! It makes a difference, especially if you're not 20." Adding of when she turned the big 4-0, "I had more of a panic going into 30. I think you realise that it just gets better. When they say youth is wasted on the young, it's so true. What I wish I'd known when I was 30!"
‘We're just getting started"
One of the small number of actresses who can command Dh90-million-a-movie (along with Reese Witherspoon and Cameron Diaz), Jennifer Aniston has been vocal about what she's learnt as a woman growing older in Hollywood, saying that she sometimes struggles to admit she is 43.
"You know what makes me feel old? When I see girls who are twenty-something, or the new crop of actresses and think, ‘Aren't we kind of the same age?' You lose perspective," she admits. "Or being offered the part of a woman with a 17-year-old child. It's like, ‘I'm not old enough to have a 17-year-old!' Then you realise, well, yeah, you are." Adding, "I don't feel my age. I feel young every day."
Looking absolutely stunning at 45, Monster's Ball star and Oscar-winner Halle Berry also admits to feeling more powerful and in control of her life and career in today's still male-centric Hollywood.
"Growing older is not such a big deal for me, despite the fears that older actresses have in Hollywood," says the mum-of-one, who recently announced her engagement to French actor Olivier Martinez. "When I hit 40, for example, I didn't feel 40 - or whatever that is supposed to feel like. I am just getting into my stride in my career. People said that it was going to be hard to get roles and that business dries up. But I don't feel that way."
Riskier business
With no fewer than five new movies in production, Oscar winner Marisa Tomei is proving that at 47 she's still one of the sexiest and most in-demand actresses working today - even getting roped in to play a stripper at the age of 43 in 2008 indie hit, The Wrestler.
Admitting to belly dancing and using a hula hoop to stay in shape, Marisa famously stripped off aged 42, in 2007's Before The Devil Knows You're Dead, revealing that her age has spurred her on to take more risks. "I'm getting older and it was now or never," insisted the Italian-American star. "There is an ease with growing up, feeling more comfortable in your own skin and caring less what people think."
And 47-year-old Sandra Bullock is another star who didn't mind casting aside her inhibitions on the big screen, stripping off for The Proposal, at the age of 44.
"I mean, literally when you read [the script], you saw it, and then you realised, ‘OK, there is no way to shoot this unless you are buck naked!'" said the mum-to-Louis. "Then I went, ‘Go to the gym, cut out the carbs!' Box office [success] like this? I'm going to be naked in every film!"
The women destroying ageism
Having cemented her position as a Hollywood power player thanks to her stellar movie career, executive producer role on TV show Ugly Betty, and being CEO of her own film production company, Ventanarosa, 45-year-old Salma Hayek has said she has no fears about growing older in the industry.
"They told me, ‘Forget it. At 30, it's over for you'. And it has not been the case," she spilled. "It feels great to age in Hollywood." And it's a sentiment echoed by Charlie's Angels star Lucy Liu, 43, who recently broke conventions to win the role of Dr Watson in the US TV version of Sherlock Holmes, opposite Jonny Lee Miller.
"Not sitting idle is how to stay young," she insists. "I feel better now than I did in my 20s."
The stars who ain't sagging
Vanessa Williams, 49
"I have a trainer. I work out on the treadmill. I watch everything I eat. It isn't as effortless as I wish it was."
Christie Brinkley, 58
"It's kind of a relief. Now I feel like, You know what? You don't think I look as good in person as I do in a magazine? I'm in my 50s. Not bad!"
Elle Macpherson, 48
"I don't believe that youth equals beauty or beauty equals youth. How I feel, how well I am, is more important to me. It doesn't bother me becoming 50 at all."
Courteney Cox, 47
"Sometimes it's a battle to accept you're no longer the hot young thing. To realise you don't attract people in the same way. It's nice to feel sexy."
Liz Hurley, 46
"I don't think growing older means looking less good. For me, it's less about trying to looking younger and more about making sure you look your absolute best."
Monica Bellucci, 47
"Growing older is natural. I don't care, and in any case there is nothing I can do about it. You look at your kids grow and you grow with them and the most important thing is to be healthy for them."
Naomi Watts, 43
"As you get older, you have a better sense of yourself and you're less about being safe."
