Laverne Cox, 49, was a guest on The Ellen Show to promote Inventing Anna, the Shonda Rhimes Netflix series dramatizing the Anna Delvey case. Laverne went to Paris Fashion Week for the first time this year as a guest of Schiaparelli, Vauthier and Gaultier, which she loved. She admitted it was a little scary for her to be on a show with a live studio audience (they wear masks and require both proof of vaccination and a negative PCR test) because she’s so careful about going out. That made me like her more than I already do. Then Laverne admitted she’s turning 50 in May. I never noticed this, but she was cagey about her age earlier in her career and only admitted her real age in 2019! IMDB published it first though. Here’s what she told Ellen.
My birthday is May 29th. I will be turning 50 years old. I started [air quotes] lying/being elusive about my age in 2000. I was 28 and I was dating a guy who was 21. He broke up with me because he said I was too old. I was like ‘if I’m too old I’ll just be 22.’ For the next two years on my dating apps and online I was 22 everywhere. Then I didn’t feel comfortable lying so ‘over 21’ became my age.
I was ‘over 21’ from 2002 to 2019. Then IMDB figured out my real age and it started appearing places. It was freaking me out and I was having such anxiety. I started talking to my therapist about it and unpacking all the stories I had about being older. ‘I wasn’t hireable,’ ‘I wasn’t datable,’ ‘I wasn’t F-able’ over a certain age. Apparently the age was like 27. Then I worked through all that. The first time I said my age out loud was January 2019. It was nothing. It was a reminder that in our heads we might have shame about something, and no one really cares, it’s just all in our heads. To be real, I am a black actress over 40 in Hollywood, so lying about my age is not completely insane.
That last thing she said about how we have shame over things that other people don’t care about really hit home for me! I have body dysmorphia and put a lot of pressure on myself to be a certain weight and size. I need to work with a professional on that mindset instead of just trying to get back to a number on the scale.
As for the issue of her age, many actresses are cagey about their ages and that’s understandable. This reminds me of when Octavia Spencer admitted early in lockdown that she’s really 50, not 48 as she claimed! That was hilarious. There’s something about turning 50 that makes us realize that we’ve still got it and we don’t GAF if society considers us unf-kable or unwanted. I’m not quite there yet mentally or age-wise, but I’m close.
Laverne also gushed about her boyfriend saying their relationship is “magical, it’s amazing, it’s incredible to be in love. Any day that we’re together it’s incredible.” That’s so sweet!
Photos credit: Avalon.red, Nicole Rivelli/Netflix and via Instagram
She’s so beautiful! One of the prettiest women I’ve ever seen and to be almost 50 years old looking like a 22 year old?! AMAZING!
I’ll be 50 in a year and a half and I’m both excited and nervous. I like how I am as a person as I get older, but I’ve also been trying to change jobs and that’s not going well and for the first time I’m wondering if I’m having trouble because I’m too old. And that freaks me out/scares me. Also, Laverne is so gorgeous. I can’t believe she’s older than me.
Thing is, *someone*somewhere*will ALWAYS know just how old you are, so why bother? OWN IT! BE PROUD! YOU MADE IT TO THIS POINT IN YOUR LIFE! Women need to take this back, and stop wanting to be the *f***kable* one. You ARE the f**kable one if YOU exude that energy!
FFS, we take *such* good care of ourselves (skin care, exercise, eating right) for our own health; if someone doesn’t like it SCREW THEM. I am SO TIRED of letting men’s approval dictate whether or not I “like” my image. I AM AMAZING, and SO ARE YOU ALL! ❤️
I can sympathize with this concern @Jesz. I’m also in the process of changing careers and I know a lot of other candidates are 10-15 years younger than me and/or have more experience in the field.
There are lots of factors that go into hiring decisions and I don’t think in general age is make-or-break. Ultimately, it’s not something you can know for sure and it’s not something you can control. I’ll admit that I don’t volunteer a lot of information that might indicate my age in interviews but otherwise, I put that worry DOWN.
You are a whole person and your life experiences bring value to the table; communication skills, emotional intelligence, versatility, intuition, whatever it may be. Even if you don’t want to directly shout it out, feel good about those strengths and keep them in your pocket.
All actors play games with their age. That is nothing new. She looks and is wonderful.
Yeah in recent years i recall Jessica Chastain and Rebel Wilson have done the same. But age started catching up with them and it became clear they are older. I feel Lavernes was able to be more believable and for longer because her skin didnt age as rapidly as them.
It’s mostly woman though, I don’t remember a rumor about a man pretending to be younger than he is, what’s even the point? But for woman, aging is still considered “bad”. I’m glad some of them are admitting their real age though =)
Men will get women 30-40 YRS YOUNGER to be the love interest in movies. They will trade in the wife that put them through school, stood by them, had their kids, for a “trophy wife” with fake boobs and pumped lips. They can have graying hair, wrinkles deep enough to sink a ship, and 3 chins, and will NEVER “fudge” their ages, and STILL get the *young chick* just for their wallets/connections.
Ain’t fair, but it is what it is.
Then again, you have Joan Collins at 88, with a husband 30 (?) yrs younger… and he’s not there for her unlined skin.
Men will get women 30-40 YRS YOUNGER to be the love interest in movies. They will trade in the wife that put them through school, stood by them, had their kids, for a “trophy wife” with fake boobs and pumped lips. They can have graying hair, wrinkles deep enough to sink a ship, and 3 chins, and will NEVER “fudge” their ages, and STILL get the *young chick* just for their wallets/connections.
Ain’t fair, but it is what it is.
Then again, you have Joan Collins at 88, with a husband 30 (?) yrs younger… and he’s not there for her unlined skin.
Wow i honestly thought she was in her 30s. I would have never ever guessed anywhere near 50.
Society does put pressure on age, so I don’t think it’s unreasonable or just because of shame.
Younger people are preferred in more settings. My friend is in her 30’s trying to start a music career, and the music industry only see real potential in the early 20 something’s, so it’s definitely harder to get older.
I think another big part of it is an industry like that thinks it’s easier to control a 20 something woman, and she’ll be more likely to do what they say and take shitty deals.
This reminds me of Amy Schumer’s sketch Last Fxxx-able Day with Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Patricia Arquette and Tina Fey. So funny and way too real as I hit mid40s.
I had that same thought! That skit was hilarious!
She looks great. She is fit and looks happy and healthy.
There is an actress on Euphoria who is very quiet about her age (I don’t think she’s ever outright lied, just never said her age). When it came out that she was probably 31-32, the negative reactions really showed why women lie in the first place. She wouldn’t be the first actress playing a high schooler at 30 and early 30s is not ancient. The fans acted like she should have gray hair and wrinkles by now.
They are all plausibly teens so I don’t even know which actress you’re talking about. And we’ve suspended disbelief for many many actors in high school shows. It’s Hollywood and multi- billion dollar beauty industry that promote this absurdity that growing older is a bad thing and that women can’t be ageless. It’s all about their profit margins and has zero to do with reality. Best I’ve ever looked was on my 40th birthday. I was in better shape and more confident than I’d ever been. It’s a lot harder to maintain now that now inching toward that next zero but my confidence is still best it’s ever been. Life just improves with age. Sorry beauty industry. But you suck.
This reminds me of Grease those actors were at least a decade older than high schoolers. Looking back at the movie today,the casting was rather ridiculous.
I will turn 50 (or “make” 50 as we say in New Orleans) 10 days before Ms. Cox. At 22 i was not as beautiful as she is today. What a stunning, lovely woman.
However, i do see my age differently.
I am thrilled to still be alive, and i EARNED every one of those years. And i will claim them all.
Of course, i don’t have to contend with hollywood or the public remarking on my weight, lines around my eyes, or hair going grey.
Make 50!!! I love this
Laverne is so beautiful in the Anna Delvey series, not just truly ageless. She is a scene-stealer!
She is so great in Inventing Anna. I only know her from OITNB, so it was cool to see her playing a woman with no explanation or back story. I’ve seen her in person a couple of times at events in SoCal and she’s supermodel level stunning.
I think she is stunning too. She was really great on OITNB, and had a make up free scene on there and you could see how truly beautiful she is.
I liked her on Inventing Anna too. My reaction to that series was mixed, but she was one of the best parts.
Inventing Anna itself was by design just a trashy fun show. I loved it but Im not sure I’ll remember it years from now. I think they had to be somewhat campy with it because there’s so much grey area about what really happened.
Some people have known about Laverne’s real age forever though and collectively rolled their eyes whenever she brought it up.
She has a twin brother who never fiddled with his birthday *and* the year he was born.
Lol!! A lot of actors and musicians who get a later start on their careers like to shave off 3 to 6 years, so having A TWIN in that case is hilariously inconvenient 🤣
Speaking of agism, I remember reading someone describe Duchess Meghan having a baby at 40 as a “geriatric pregnancy”. Aside from the absurdity of referring to a 40 year old woman as geriatric, it apparently is an EXTREMELY antiquated term that hasn’t commonly been used amongst medical professionals since the 1950s. The term was finally put to bed because geriatric means elderly, and pregnancy is not a condition that affects the elderly.
But how crazy is that??
I had my second at 35 and was a “geriatric pregnancy.” It’s a clinical term that is used in any case where the mother will be 35 on or before the expected due date. My OB’s office had a red stamp for the file folder that said “GERIATRIC” which I found hilarious. Duchess Megan wasn’t “geriatric” (nor was I!) but the term “geriatric pregnancy” is commonplace for women at or over 35 at the expected time of delivery.
Can confirm geriatric pregnancy is still in very common clinical use.
The more I look at Laverne’s pictures, the more the phrase “bad bitch” comes to mind. That top photo, where she’s resting against the exercise ball? It just kills me. Attitude for dayyyyyyyys!
She is GORGEOUS, smart, compassionate, funny… total class act all around. I’m glad to hear that she worked through those issues and really appreciate her sharing that journey & giving insight to others who are dealing with their own insecurites.
I checked out IMDb to see what she’s up to next and it looks like she’ll be starring alongside George Wallace in a show called Clean Slate. I’m excited to see her in this type of lead role!
I saw her up close and personal, when my brother won an auction at his kids’ school, for tickets to the Emmys. She is FLAWLESS. I am 47, I thought she was in her 30s. I am so glad she is embracing her age, we need a lot more of this.
So stunning, so gorgeous, so nice, and so smart! Class Act!