Lara Flynn Boyle was a gossip staple back in the late 1990s and early 2000s. She was in relationships with Kyle MacLachlan, David Spade and, most famously, Jack Nicholson, and there was rampant speculation about her weight. After she and Nicholson broke up for good in 2004, Lara took a step back from the Hollywood scene. She married her husband Donald Ray Thomas in 2006. Since then, she and Thomas have been living in Texas part-time with their rescue dog named Shrimp.
Despite having a much lower profile over the last two decades, Lara’s popped up here and there, appearing in a handful of movies and occasionally, in paparazzi shots. Lara’s last movie was four years ago, something she blames the pandemic for. On July 5, her new movie, Mother, Couch will be out for a limited run. People recently sat down with Lara to catch up and talk to her love of Hollywood, being a tabloid fixture, ageism in the biz, and more.
She loves “everything” about Hollywood: [Boyle, 54, explains] why she changed her mind and nixed her initial suggestion for her PEOPLE interview — a nondescript L.A. diner that serves tuna melts and apple pie — and opted for the glamorous Sunset Boulevard hot spot that opened in 1941, the year Citizen Kane premiered. “I don’t have to be like, ‘Look where I go. I’m normal,’” says Boyle. “I love Hollywood. I love everything about Hollywood.” The fact that Boyle is still so enthusiastic about show business is a testament to her resilience — she’s a “scrapper,” she says several times during an hour-long chat.
She had her own #MeToo experiences: “I’ve been in situations that were not called for. I’ve walked out of meetings and had repercussions for it,” she says, declining to name names. “We all go through it.”
On tabloids publishing unflattering pictures of her: Even after Boyle got married to Texas real estate developer Donald Ray Thomas, 58, in 2006 and began working less, paparazzi still hounded her. They snapped pictures while she took out the trash and, in one unflattering instance, while she appeared to take a swig from a bottle of Johnnie Walker whiskey in her car. Tabloids were all too happy to publish the photos alongside sensational headlines.
No complaining or leaving: “I never wanted to bow out [of Hollywood]. Any moment I was feeling down or sorry for myself, I made sure I did not complain,” she says while sipping on a cappuccino. “My mom used to sometimes bring me articles about other actresses to show me I’m not the only one getting a raw deal.”
She was cast in Mother, Couch because the director saw her tabloids: It’s that tabloid attention that intrigued writer-director Niclas Larsson, who cast Boyle in Mother, Couch. Larsson grew up in Sweden reading tabloids at his mother’s hair salon and was fascinated by Boyle. “The only type of literature I was exposed to between the age of 5 to maybe 10 was gossip magazines. And Lara was on the cover a lot. I’m like, ‘What’s up with Lara?’ What’s up with the excellent actor Lara Flynn Boyle?’
No one can imagine what women in the late 90s went through: I knew I needed someone who physically and mentally lived through something,” says Larsson. “I don’t think anyone can imagine what it is like to go through what a lot of women went through in the late ’90s, early 2000s.”
No more Hollywood boyfriends or booze: Before she met Thomas, Boyle dated her Twin Peaks costar Kyle MacLachlan, Saturday Night Live alum David Spade and then Nicholson on and off from 1999 into the early 2000s. “I left with a bang when it came to actors,” she says of the three-time Oscar winner. “Then I went, ‘Okay, I’m done now.’ ”
She said the same about alcohol around five years ago. “Those disco boots, they’ve had their time,” says Boyle. If there was an impetus to stop, Boyle isn’t telling. “Some people are allergic to it; some people are un-allergic to it,” she says.
Ageism is “human nature: From the outside, I say, it seems things have become more inclusive. Before she speaks, she lets out a long, world-weary laugh. “Not at all,” she says. “The thing that gets my goat is when actresses talk about ageism in Hollywood. Ageism is human nature. It’s not Hollywood’s fault. It’s all of our fault. Myself included. I like looking at pretty people on the camera.”
She’s ready for her close-up but doesn’t want to see it: One person she does not enjoy watching: herself. “If you want to call me Norma Desmond, go for it,” she quips. “Whenever I catch a reflection of myself in a lens, I’m like, ‘Oh, cut.’ ”
Oh man, some of what she says…it feels like there’s so much to unpack there. Larsson is right about famous women in the late ‘90s and early ‘00s. Thinking back to that period of time, they really went through so much unfair scrutiny and judgment as a part of tabloid culture. I feel so badly for buying into it all so much when I was much younger. Beauty standards in that time period messed so many of us normies up, thinking that’s what we had to look like to be attractive. I can only imagine how bad it was for actresses who were having their pictures taken and talked about all of the time. I remember seeing that picture of her drinking from the Johnnie Walker bottle in her car and feeling sorry for her, hoping she got some help. I’m glad she’s stopped drinking.
As for ageism, while it does seem like there are more roles for more mature-aged actresses nowadays, I recognize that there’s still a lot of room for improvement. However, I don’t know if it’s “human nature” so much as what Hollywood perceives as marketability. I really don’t think most people prefer looking at “pretty people” on screens. I just want good story content and acting. I feel like viewers are in an era where we appreciate seeing people who look like us represented in our media and it hasn’t gone completely unnoticed. Also, it’s sorta telling the way Lara says she can’t stand to watch herself on screen. She may be a “scrapper” but it sure feels like she has a lot of scars from old wounds that never healed properly.
'Twin Peaks' Star Lara Flynn Boyle Was a Tabloid Target for Years. The Attention Helped Land Her a New Movie (Exclusive) https://t.co/ZlSLV8xspr
— People (@people) July 2, 2024
Photos credit: Media Punch/INSTARimages.com, FayesVision / Wenn / Avalon and via Twitter
Lara’s face is the mirror of her insecurities of being in the “hollyweird” machine. I’m not going to say any thing else.
Yes. She doesn’t have to share details but the trauma associated with her experiences is all over her face. It also leaks through her interview.
Didn’t she get diagnosed with some sort of autoimmune disorder or something? I thought there was more of a reason for her looking the way she does than just plastic surgery and injection mishaps, but I could be wrong
@Cheshire – your comment really struck me. I loved Twin Peaks and rewatched the whole thing a couple of years back. But I’m coming up blank on this character. Everytime I try to place her I get stuck on lips.
If she deflated the upper lip, she might have a chance of looking half-decent.
All Norma Desmond wanted to do was look at herself so maybe Lara needs to rewatch Sunset Boulevard. Lol.
In some ways ageism is biological but in most ways it is the result of misogyny and internalized misogyny, and the extremely warped portrayals in Hollywood of women come from that (shrug).
My jaw legit dropped when I read she was 54. She…does not look that young.
The ageism is just human nature is BS and a way to justify her own very shallow inclinations and internalized misogyny. I mean, I like to look at pretty people, too! It’s just that I find beauty in people of all ages/sizes/etc., and I wish I could see a greater variety of beauty on screen.
I so agree! I love European movies with real faces. I fall in love with their beauty, even when they’re not conventionally attractive. Same in real life, too.
To me, filled and botoxed faces are like watching a train wreck. My brain tries so hard to process what my eyes are seeing. It’s fascinating in an unsettling way.
I watched a Family Affair yesterday, with two beautiful people that have really messed with their faces, and it is very distracting. Very. It’s not beautiful.
I think streaming has helped a bit-made space for more diverse standards of beauty, age and size. Plus the aging of the archetypical Hollywood stars. most of them are in their 40s and 50s now, except perhaps folks like Margot Robbie who is as adept and focused on producing as she is on acting.
I think she’s right. And all one has to do is go on social media and see how people talk about celebrities as they age. Jokes about getting old abound. Older people find it harder to find jobs. Entire industries exist around fighting ageing: “anti-aging” and “anti-wrinkle” skincare, botox, fillers, facelifts. And that all of that exists outside of Hollywood. And we can’t blame Hollywood for it either. I think those things would still exist even if Hollywood didn’t. We as a society have a deep rooted fear of ageing.
But there are cultures that revere their elders and recognize their hard-won wisdom.
🎯
And some of those very same cultures still have rampant plastic surgery.
“Ageism is human nature. It’s not Hollywood’s fault.”
Then, why don’t men suffer from it in Hollywood? Why do I have to watch old, ugly men getting with a woman at his daughter’s age? And the actress at his age is playing his mother. It IS Hollywood’s fault. Older actresses are pretty too, but they are not allowed to have wrinkles or any lines according to Hollywood’s standards.
Men don’t suffer from it anywhere else either. We had a whole trend talking about how hot “dad bods” are. And if you look at older famous male actors – they are getting work done too.
Well, I would say what we see on our screens affect our perception. After I started watching european shows, I appreciated the beauty of older women more. The problem is, to exist in Hollywood, a lot of older actresses are changing their face with PS. Men do it too, but not to the same extent, because they are allowed to have wrinkles or gray hair.
Then you’ll have to define “ageism” more specifically. In this case we are referring to an industry where almost everyone is getting professional work done and even so, women over 35 are seen as washed-up except in handfuls of exceptional cases, and middle-aged and senior men are paired with drastically younger women as a normal matter of course.
Contrast this to another very aesthetically focused world, ballet – and in this industry men and women tend to retire from dancing at similar ages.
Hollywood and celebrities take up so much of our consumption, it’s disingenuous to pretend it doesn’t hyper fixate on misogyny and youth. Nobody said Hollywood invented the concept in the first place, and that’s not really what’s being discussed.
I certainly think it’s true that Hollywood ageism is a reflection of societal ageism, it’s not distinct from broader societal issues. Ageism occurs everywhere, there’s no “industry” that is immune. The issue is that Hollywood, or the film/entertainment industry generally, has such a massive influence in normalizing and reinforcing ageism (and a number of other -isms) that bleeds into society’s expectations. Of course, one can argue it’s a chicken/egg question and I think that’s true- it’s also not a one-way thing, just as Hollywood influences societal views, societal views are brought to Hollywood by the people working there who already had those views pervasive in US society…
There have always been industries/beauty products/ standards which have been ageist, since the beginning of time (you can find ancient recipes for anti-wrinkle cream etc). But at no time in history has the idea of what natural faces or bodies look like been so distorted. Poreless, lineless, bumpless. Nor has the consumerist mentality to “fight” these “problems” been implemented on to people with so much pressure. It has combined with other factors like our phones to give us these images 24/7, and Hollywood feeds into that too.
A good example would be the mainstream switch to HD cameras in the industry in the late 90’s/early 2000’s. Everyone’s makeup got way more scrutiny, even people not in the industry, and magazines were explaining how to get the new pore-free line-free look for this technology. That’s just one example of thousands etc.
I mean she isn’t wrong, it isn’t just Hollywood that is ageist or treats women poorly so.
One reason I prefer watching British dramas, is that I find the middle aged women a little more relatable. Less filler and more akin to what I see in ordinary people. So, I think her perspective about cinema and who is featured is pretty small. Also, lip filler seems to age people more than thin and wrinkled lips. Maybe that’s just me.
I so agree with you-I love British TV anyway; the first time I saw an actual non botoxed middle aged woman on screen I involuntarily gasped. Same for most foreign films. It’s awesome!
And yet film, tv from other countries manages to feature non-20 something women in complex roles, characters
(British, French, other)
So, something specific is going on in Hollywood RE ageism especially towards women.
And how many Hollywood projects feature complex 20somethings?
the movie looks great and I bet she’s great in it. nothing to contribute to the endless discussion about “looks”.
I understand what she’s saying. I’m a year younger than she is and haven’t liked pictures of myself in about a decade. It’s jarring to watch yourself age.
Then you’re buying into the Hollywood myth that getting old is unacceptable. That beauty is only for the young. I feel sorry for you. I’m 71 and when I get made up and dressed up to go out somewhere I feel pretty, Mr. Jaded always says I look pretty. I don’t get jarred about it at all, it’s natural, I’ve never gotten botox or injectables or anything. Yes looks change over the years, but that doesn’t mean you become an ugly old crone. A different kind of beauty shines through, confidence, acceptance, intelligence and experience are as beautiful as a lineless face, plum lips and perfect figure.
@Jaded Thank you so much for this comment! This year I turn 31 and I already feel so washed up and old. Not helped by the fact that my family tells me I’m “too old to find a good man now”. I’m also going back to college to finish my degree, which hasn’t helped at all with my feelings of being too old for all of this. Sometimes I feel like I should just lie down on the earth and let it reclaim me lol
Again, thank you for your comment. I hope I get to be like you when I’m your age.
@Jaded
I don’t have a Mr. Sandy and I am well aware of what it feels like to be treated like a middle-aged woman by men.
@Sandy — Again, you’re judging yourself through others’ eyes, not your own. I didn’t have a Mr. Jaded or any other man, for about 12 years and I wasn’t bothered. I had a good job, a busy social life, and interesting hobbies, nor was I treated as a second class citizen because of my age, I simply wasn’t interested in forcing a relationship just for the sake of having a man in my life. He came into my life when I was 63, an age you seem to feel is beyond attracting love based solely on looks. Being independent and able to forge my own life as I grew older was what attracted him to me.
A sidenote — Mr. Jaded and I had a relationship when I was in my mid-twenties, when I was a beautiful young woman with nary a line on my face or sagging flesh. For various reasons things didn’t work out but when he came back into my life in 2015 he made it clear that he prefers the older me and the wisdom, confidence, and emotional and intellectual maturity I’ve acquired over the decades. I hope you find that kind of man who appreciates who you really are, not just the superficial stuff.
@ Jaded
It makes sense. You two share a connection to the past and a remembrance, at least to some degree, of who you both were. I mean that in terms of who you were as people as well as your physical selves.
I’m not saying that people who are older can’t find love. I’m sure they can. I’m just saying that I’m no longer hot.
@Sandy — there is MUCH more to life and love than being “hot”. That’s a pretty shallow yardstick by which to measure yourself, you need to look beyond that and work out new ways to gain self-esteem for who you really are, not what you look like.
I’m talking about the male response. I have no control over that.
If that didn’t matter to me, I’d be fine.
To paraphrase Jodie Foster: ageism might be human, and it might be cultural, but it is not acceptable.
Hollywood is not the problem.
Late ’90’ and early 2000’s oh Lord.
It’s when JLo or Beyonce body was considered fat.
Awful time.
There have been cultures throughout history that revere their aged. It’s not “human nature” at all. Hollywood likes to say it’s a reflection of our culture, but there’s way more of a two-way exchange going on. Hollywood influences our culture as much as it reflects it.
For the new Napoleon movie, they hired an actor much older than Napoleon and an actress much younger than his real life wife. In reality, Napoleon was younger than his wife Joséphine. They do this all the time for historical movies. The culture accepts older women, Hollywood producers don’t.
I find it ironic that you said this. So much on this site is calling out about how someone, mostly women, look. On this site there is never any holding back when someone, usually a woman, is wearing something, had something done or not done, that is scrutinized and picked apart usually to the detriment of the person being examined by you and your readers.
…it feels like there’s so much to unpack there. Larsson is right about famous women in the late ‘90s and early ‘00s. Thinking back to that period of time, they really went through so much unfair scrutiny and judgment as a part of tabloid culture. I feel so badly for buying into it all so much when I was much younger. Beauty standards in that time period messed so many of us normies up, thinking that’s what we had to look like to be attractive.
At the end of the day this is a gossip site. And there’s no way for gossip culture to not be problematic. You either accept it or you stop visiting gossip sites.
Good points.
I’m excited to see her in something! She sounds so bitter here. She has every right to be, but I hope that isn’t how she feels on the day-to-day. “Some people are allergic to it; some people are un-allergic to it,” brilliant turn of phrase.
I pulled up a clip from the last Oscars on YouTube and gaped at the actress who looked like an oil slick. Or watch the latest movie of another actress and can’t follow the storyline because I can only wonder at her face. And for that matter her leading man and is he wearing a rug?!
I hope the alcohol is behind her now. Recovery is a process. She looks much better in that People photo than she has in years.
I think what she is referring to is that America is ageist. There are some cultures and industries that are not, or are ageist in a different way. For example, European cinema is different. The USA, and other countries that fall into this category, have an obsession with youth—looking and feeling as young as possible, especially for women. Since there is still a strong patriarchal culture in the USA, men place a high value on beauty. This leaks into everything else, so it is not surprising.
Yikes! 🫣
Women were supposed to look and dress in a certain way during the 90s. It wasn’t a kind decade! But most of us survived still looking like ourselves, including many actresses.
Wasn’t she the one who attended some awards red carpet wearing an absurd pink tutu/ lace-up slippers outfit, bc Nicholson had cheated on her with a ballerina? Not her brightest moment.
She’s always been looks-focused and man-focused, and she’s trying to project her own insecurities by mumbling some intellectual-sounding bs about our human condition.
I remember that Lara also had an affair with Harrison Ford and she was much younger than him and he still gets roles. In fact, he’s still allowed to fly his own airplane though he’s crashed/had landing issues more than once in it and NOBODY is suggesting he shouldn’t be allowed to fly anymore. Even if he kills someone, there will be an excuse. And Lara is only 54 and Harrison is, what, in his 80’s? Sexism for sure.
Harrison Ford flies planes in his private life. That has nothing to do with Lara Flynn Boyle’s acting career. Sexism is a real issue and shouldn’t be used to make a point when there isn’t one.
If she would just deflate the upper lip, she might have a chance at looking half decent.