Senior Planet Talks to…Andie MacDowell

A former top model, Andie MacDowell broke the long-held myth that models couldn’t act, in a brilliant career with memorable roles in Green Card, Groundhog Day and Four Weddings and a Funeral. Now 66, she talks to SENIOR PLANET about her new role in the award-winning drama, Good Girl Jane.

Q: You play the divorced mother of a teenage girl struggling to fit in at a new high school. Did it make you think about raising your own three children, who are all adults now?

ANDIE: No, I didn’t compare it to my children at all, or my life. It’s a true story and it happened to her [writer/director Sarah Elizabeth Mintz]. It’s set in Los Angeles in an environment which could be quite intoxicating, and you can understand the insecurity of not having friends and not fitting in and being exposed to the wrong people. You can have real compassion and empathy for this young girl.

Q: Good Girl Jane is also a cautionary tale about how easy it is for teens to get in with the wrong crowd?

ANDIE: You’re right, and I do think it can happen to anyone. She was very vulnerable and struggling to find her pack, and gets in with that group which was very enticing. You can feel so isolated, and it can even happen to adults. You can start drinking too much if you get in with the wrong group of people. Just trying to fit in, you can go down dark roads anytime in your life.

Q: You no longer live in Los Angeles yourself?

ANDIE: I lived in California to be near my daughters. But I’m near Charleston now in South Carolina.

Q: And you escaped the devastation of Hurricane Helene?

ANDIE: Oh, gosh, I cried for a whole weekend. I have to tell you, I could start crying now, if I think about. It’s truly heartbreaking. So many people really suffered, and are still suffering – but they’re a hardy group of people on the mountains. My sister has got to redo her roof. She just wants to get back to work. She is 68, two years older than me, and leads backpacking trips in the Appalachian Mountains. That’s her retirement! She used to be a teacher. She’s fabulous.

Q: When you made Groundhog Day with Bill Murray in 1993, did you have any inkling that it would become so iconic?

ANDIE: I knew it was a beautiful script. Every once in a while you get something great. But I don’t think you can ever really predict something like the way it panned out. It’s even in the Smithsonian. I feel like sometimes you do work and people don’t even see what you’re doing, because it’s so real and understated. And it was because of how I handled it that Bill could do whatever he wanted to do. It was ying and yang – truly. I’m proud of my work in it.

Q: Are there any roles you would still like to do?

ANDIE: Four Weddings and a Funeral was a huge gift to me so I would love to do any kind of British comedy again. I saw this British TV comedy recently called Menopause and I’d love to be on that. I’ve been daydreaming of what I could play on that show. I’m also on a TV drama, The Way Home, now in its third season.

Q: How do you maintain your energy?

ANDIE: I have energy because I love being active. I’ve always been that way. I’m very fortunate that I’m not the kind of person that you have to push to work out.  That’s my favorite thing. Like I walk five miles most every day and I also do yoga. It’s just in my nature. It’s my spirit. I love to exercise. And I love to eat healthy. I’m not saying I don’t enjoy myself like I’ll eat cake and pie and all that kind of stuff. But I try not to.

Q: What does a day in your life look like?

ANDIE: I usually get up around 6.15am. I’ll have a couple of cups of coffee, and then I go walk my dog for an hour or more. When I’m not working, that’s what I’m doing. Then I might see friends. I also love to ride bikes, but my hips hurt me right now and I can’t wait to get that fixed.

Q: Any hobbies?

ANDIE: I love to read or take exercise classes. I love birds and I want to learn more about them. There’s actually a girl that teaches about birds on the island where I live, and I want to do that. I have two sisters who are bridge masters. So eventually, I might be that woman. But I don’t have time right now. I am still enjoying my job. There are days that I show up on set and I get a thrill because, after all these years, I’m still excited.

Q: What’s your secret to aging with attitude?

ANDIE: As I age, I feel very vulnerable to tell you the honest truth – and quite often, I find myself in situations where I feel invisible. I feel as though I’m not seen in the same way as someone 20 years younger. You know, we are not treated the same. It happens to me on a regular basis, and I have to stand up for myself.  The truth of the matter, is that getting older is not easy. It’s like they say, it’s not for sissies. And we do have to advocate for ourselves when people don’t see us, or we have to sparkle a little bit more to get noticed. It is just part of the process – we have to stand up for ourselves to say that we are relevant.

Q: How do you do that?

ANDIE: I said that so many times when I was just in Paris for L’Oreal. I came home and I said: God, you said it too many times. It’s like I’m having to knock people over the head to tell them that I’m relevant; that I still matter; that I still have a seat at the table. I am the sounding board – screaming that for everybody, that we are relevant, that we do have a seat at the table. But you have to insist, because you will be excluded if you don’t insist.

Good Girl Jane is now available on all major On Demand platforms.

Photo Courtesy of Tribeca Films

Gill Pringle began her career as a rock columnist for popular British newspapers, traveling the world with Madonna, U2 and Michael Jackson. Moving to Los Angeles 27 years ago, she interviews film and TV personalities for prestigious UK outlets, The Independent, The i-paper and The Sunday Times – and, of course, Senior Planet. A member of Critics Choice Association, BAFTA and AWFJ, she wrote the screenplay for 2016 Netflix family film, The 3 Tails Movie: A Mermaid Adventure. An award-winning writer, in 2021 she was honored by the Los Angeles Press Club with 1st prize at the NAEJ Awards.