Patricia Clarkson: Ageless Beauty

I rented The Station Agent (2003) the other night and forgot what a delightful character piece it was. And the best part about the entire movie was Patricia Clarkson. She was funny, sexy and utterly charming as the love interest to Peter Dinklage. A totally believable, heartbreaking portrayal of a mother who lost her son and lost her way in the process. I loved her so much in that movie that I followed it up with a much earlier, much less meaty role but the only one I had in my DVD library with Patricia: The Untouchables (1987).

I watched Patricia play the adoring wife of Kevin Costner’s Elliot Ness and was enraptured once again with her amazing on-screen presence. Then I realized what seemed pretty profound in the early-morning hours of a Saturday night: Patricia Clarkson does not age. Okay, she ages along with the rest of us, but unlike the rest of us — she gets more gorgeous and sexy as she ages oh so gracefully.

To prove my point, I watched her online in several more films, like the more recent Easy A and Cairo Time (both 2010). She was even more luminous now, literally glowing off the screen. So, I just had to look her up and find out that Patricia was, well, well into her 50’s. Not only that, but she’s been cast more now than when she first started out – over thirty years ago and running. A true anachronism if you consider Hollywood’s attitude towards leading-ladies over 30.  Patricia just keeps getting cast when most actresses have hung it up, short of Meryl Streep.

Maybe Patricia truly is timeless and therefore the normal rules in today’s youth-obsessed American culture don’t apply. Maybe she’s got great genes along with a youthful spirit and joy for life and her work. But in an age where teenage girls are getting plastic surgery, I believe Patricia Clarkson should be more the rule than the exception: A woman who is as beautiful on the inside as she is on the outside, no matter what her age. I know that not everyone can be so lucky – but then again maybe she knows something we don’t – that life should be celebrated every day, no matter what you do or who you are. And therein lies the secret of her timeless beauty and success.

Meryl Streep: Oscar’s Leading Lady

What can be said about the mighty Meryl that hasn’t already been covered hundreds of times in her storied career? She’s simply the most acclaimed actress of her, or any, time in history. And she seems to be getting better with every passing year. Ah, here’s something — her roles get more limited as she (and we) get inevitably older in a youth-obsessed media universe. But first, I’d like to remind everyone just how beautiful Ms. Streep is with a few photographs of the screen goddess taken through the celluloid ages:

This was Meryl in the first movie I ever saw her in: Sophie’s Choice. The film is dated now, but she isn’t. She’s so beautiful in this portrayal of a woman haunted by the Nazis in World War II. Worth another viewing if you haven’t seen it in awhile.

This photo is circa Kramer Vs. Kramer. Meryl is an absolute knockout in the role and her beauty is so radiant it puts all future supermodels to shame. To be that talented and that beautiful was and is truly something to behold and celebrate. Oscar here we come…

Around the same era but in color. One of my favorite Meryl Streep movies is SILKWOOD. Meryl is so vulnerable in this role and absolutely riveting as a young, free-spirited woman who takes on a nuclear energy plant and pays the price. The b-story of her home life with Cher and Kurt Russell is equally compelling and easily their best work opposite arguably the best American actress ever. Just goes to show that Meryl on a movie will invariably up everyone else’s acting chops to a new level while they’re in her orbit.

Two more of my favorites. Between the smoldering sensuality and those eyes piercing through to your soul…

But I have to say I love Meryl in black & white. There’s something so timeless about her beauty that she lends herself to the glamor shot in such an open, unassuming and understated way that all you see is beauty and brains unlike any other actress of her time. This is another one of my favorites of the multi-Oscar winning actress. And no matter how old she gets and how insipid the movie roles become – I’m just happy to see Meryl up on the screen where she belongs – in front of the camera that loves her along with the audience.

Just beautiful.