Sure, Hollywood may seem eternally taken with the next young hot thing, but it’s also plenty supportive of stars with decades under their belts — well, so long as they’re Oscar-winning queens like Dame Helen Mirren and Jane Fonda or iconic action heroes like Harrison Ford and Clint Eastwood.
Now in their eighth decade and beyond, legendary actors like these are not only still prominent in the entertainment industry but seemingly not slowing down anytime soon. Look at the recently minted octogenarian Mirren (who turned the big 8-0 on July 26), whose IMDb page looks more booked-and-busy than most of her more bright-eyed and bushy-tailed counterparts. This year alone, the acclaimed actress popped up in the main casts of two prominent Paramount+ series — the Yellowstone prequel 1923 (as Cara Dutton, alongside fellow 80-and-over superstar Ford) and the British crime drama MobLand (as Maeve Harrigan, opposite 72-year-old youngster Pierce Brosnan) — as well as the star-studded crime comedy The Thursday Murder Club.
It’s not a shock that older actors like Mirren and Co. consistently put in great work — these people have maintained long and productive careers across stage and screen, with a vast number of acting credits to their names. The Thursday Murder Club director Chris Columbus, who worked with Mirren as well as Ben Kingsley, Celia Imrie and Jonathan Pryce, in the new film, said that having such established performers on set was “a dream come true.”
Talking with Parade, Columbus shared: “There was a level of professionalism that quite frankly, surprised me. Here were four extraordinarily successful, respected titans of their craft. You wouldn’t be surprised if they had a bit of an attitude or were cynical and jaded about all aspects of the film business. But these actors were deeply committed and passionate, striving every day to do great, meaningful work.”
Nonnas. (L-R) Susan Sarandon as Gia, Vince Vaughn as Joe Scaravella, Talia Shire as Teresa, Linda Cardellini as Olivia, director Stephen Chbosky, Brenda Vaccaro as Antonella, Drea de Matteo as Stella, Lorraine Bracco as Roberta and Joe Manganiello as Bruno on the set of Nonnas. Cr. Jeong Park/Netflix © 2025. — Source: Jeong Park/Netflix
Filmmaker Stephen Chbosky — who directed a similarly iconic quartet of mature actors (Talia Shire, Brenda Vaccaro, Lorraine Bracco and Susan Sarandon) in the Netflix dramedy Nonnas — echoed those sentiments “I believe that all acting is autobiography. No matter the character they’re playing, an actor is going to bring a lifetime of experience to the role. When you are working with legends, the lifetime is infinite. Watching them work was an honor every day.”
And though only a mere 73 years old, The Thursday Murder Club star Celie Imrie says she’s only just getting started as a leading lady. “If I’m truthful, I think I have always veered towards the magnet of a supporting role. So now to have the gift of a leading role, it feels deliciously daring, and I certainly have the taste for more…I used to be criticised for being ambitious when I was young, now I am proud to be and want to keep going, be surprising, and grab every next chance with both hands.”
With The Thursday Murder Club now on streaming, here’s more about Dame Helen Mirren’s decade-spanning career, as well as 11 other over-80 actors who prove that, when it comes to great performances, age is just a number.
12 legendary actors still working into their 80s
Helen Mirren in The Thursday Murder Club — Source: Netflix
1. Dame Helen Mirren
The London-born star has been a legend of the stage and screen for over six decades, raking in an Academy Award win (for her transformative turn as the late Queen Elizabeth II in the Stephen Frears-directed drama The Queen) and another three nominations, plus five SAG Awards, four Emmys, four BAFTA Awards, three Golden Globes, a Peabody and a Tony. (And a partridge and a peartree.)
She was made a Dame Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (DBE) by the real QEII in 2003 for her services to drama, and hasn’t stopped since, popping up in the Fast & the Furious franchise, narrating the billion-dollar blockbuster Barbie, portraying the titular Russian royal in HBO’s Catherine the Great, the list goes on and on. And here’s hoping she doesn’t stop anytime soon!
Source: Apple TV+
2. Harrison Ford
Like his 1923 on-screen wife Helen Mirren, 83-year-old Harrison Ford — one of the last true movie stars working in Hollywood today — is also pulling double duty on two high-profile streaming series: as rancher-patriarch Jacob Dutton in Paramount+’s Western drama 1923 and as senior therapist Dr. Paul Rhoades in the Apple TV+ comedy Shrinking. And on the big-screen, he’s turning up as President Thaddeus Ross-slash-Red Hulk in this year’s Captain America: Brave New World and was whipping his lasso as Indiana Jones as recently as 2023, in Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny.
Of continuing a renowned celluloid legacy (that includes Han Solo, Rick Deckard, Jack Ryan and countless other memorable characters) well into his eighties, the star said during a 2023 appearance on celebrity.land’s Who’s Talking to Chris Wallace?: “I probably enjoy making movies more now than I ever did. I don’t want to be young again. I was young, and now I enjoy being old. I love to work. I love to feel useful.”
Morgan Freeman — Source: Briarcliff Entertainment
3. Morgan Freeman
Few actors have as beloved and beatific a voice as Morgan Freeman, which the 88-year-old Oscar winner has used to devastating effect in classic film roles like Ellis “Red” Reddin in Shawshank Redemption, Fast Black in Street Smart, Hoke Colburn in Driving Miss Daisy, Lucius Fox in The Dark Knight Trilogy and even as Nelson Mandela in Invictus.
And the actor’s distinct inflections and commanding presence are still captivating audiences today — along with a starring role on the Paramount+ spy thriller Lioness alongside Zoe Saldaña and Nicole Kidman (which just got renewed for a third season), the Memphis-born star has appeared in big-screen titles like the 2024 dramedy My Dead Friend Zoe and action thriller Gunner, and will next be seen in the heist sequel Now You See Me: Now You Don’t, set to hit theaters this November.
Source: Paramount Pictures
4. Rita Moreno
One of the last remaining stars from the Golden Age of Hollywood and one of the few actors to be an EGOT winner (that’s an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar and a Tony), Rita Moreno’s eight-decades-long filmography is loaded with absolute classics — we’re talking West Side Story, of course, as well as the gorgeous 2021 remake, but also Singin’ in the Rain, The King and I, Carnal Knowledge and The Ritz.
And the 93-year-old triple threat is still acting, singing and dancing her way into audiences’ hearts. In fact, she’s even been mulling over a return to the stage, telling Variety last fall: “I play Alexa all the time because I love music, and I love jazz. Once in a while I start singing along with them and performing the song, and I’ll say to myself, ‘I think you miss this.’ There’s always a chance that I may do it again.” In the meantime, she’s kept plenty busy with recent projects like the sports comedy 80 for Brady, the action flick Fast X and the fantasy film Family Switch.
Ben Kingsley in The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar — Source: Netflix
5. Sir Ben Kingsley
One of Helen Mirren’s co-stars in the upcoming The Thursday Murder Club is Sir Ben Kingsley, the great Anglo-Indian actor. Though arguably most famous for his starring role as Mahatma Gandhi in Richard Attenborough’s 1982 biopic Gandhi — for which he won the Oscar and BAFTA awards for Best Actor — the 81-year-old star has five decades of incredible work (from Schindler’s List to House of Sand and Fog and beyond) and lofty awards to his name, including a Grammy, two Golden Globes and nominations for four Emmys and two Oliviers.
And judging from his upcoming projects, Kingsley’s shooting schedule remains just as jam-packed. Along with this year’s The Thursday Murder Club, the actor will next be seen in the Terrence Malick-directed biblical epic The Way of the Wind, the historical action drama Desert Warrior, the disaster horror flick Deep Water and the MCU miniseries Wonder Man. Busy gent, that Sir Ben!
Carol Burnett and Jean Smart in ‘Hacks’ — Source: Max
6. Carol Burnett
Who is the comedy hero of all of your comedy heroes? It’s likely Carol Burnett, the pioneering actress-comedienne who is still getting laughs in her ninth decade. After gaining fame onstage in New York, first in nightclubs and later Broadway, Burnett became a household name when she moved to Los Angeles and kicked off her seminal CBS series The Carol Burnett Show, which ran from 1967 to 1978 and made its star the first woman to lead a major network primetime variety show.
Seven Golden Globes, seven Primetime Emmys, two Peabody Awards, a Grammy and a Tony later — not to mention a Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor — the 93-year-old is very much still hitting those punchlines as Norma Dellacorte in the Apple TV+ comedy Palm Royale, which returns for its second season on November 12.
Ian McKellen — Source: Lionsgarte
7. Ian McKellen
A prolific stage and screen actor as adapt at flawlessly reciting Shakespearean verse (Richard III, All Is True) as he is dutifully rounding up a merry band of hobbits (The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit films,) 86-year-old English legend Ian McKellen has a sprawling career across seven decades, filled with superhero flicks (the X-Men franchise), period dramas (Gods & Monsters), mystery flicks (Mr. Holmes), live-action musicals (Beauty & the Beast), TV miniseries (David Copperfield) and more.
Talking to The Lancaster Post about his recent stage performance as Falstaff in 2024’s Player Kings, McKellen mused on aging as an actor: “When a script comes through, or the hint of an offer, you think, ‘This might be my last job. No. I’m not doing that.’ So if Falstaff is my last job, I’d better get it right, hadn’t I?” But that wasn’t nearly his last job, as the actor has Steven Soderbergh’s upcoming black comedy The Christophers as well as 2026’s Avengers: Doomsday in the pipeline.
Related: Jessica Hecht Reveals the Hardest Part of Being a Tony Nominee (Exclusive)
Jane Fonda in Our Souls At Night — Source: Netflix
8. Jane Fonda
If it wasn’t already clear that acting is in Jane Fonda’s blood — she is, of course, the daughter of legendary Hollywood duo Henry Fonda and Frances Ford Seymour — the sheer longevity of the actress’s six-decade career in film and television is certainly proof. That genre-jumping career, which ranged from Oscar-winning dramas like Klute and Coming Home to classic comedies such as Barefoot in the Park and 9 to 5, solidified Fonda’s status as one of the most acclaimed actors in Hollywood.
But where other performers of her ilk would be resting on those laurels, Fonda is relentlessly working — she appeared in three projects (80 for Brady, Ruby Gillman: Teenage Kraken and Book Club: The Next Chapter) at the age of 85 alone. “I don’t feel like an old person,” the now-87-year-old actor-activist told The New York Times earlier this year. I’m much younger than I was when I was in my 20s, in all the ways that matter”
Clint Eastwood in The Mule — Source: Warner Bros.
9. Clint Eastwood
Though these days, the 95-year-old acting icon (Dirty Harry, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly) prolific director (Unforgiven, Million Dollar Baby) and one-time California mayor (true story!) is more likely to be found behind the camera than in front of it — his most recent acting role was in 2021’s neo-Western Cry Macho — Clint Eastwood is still producing a majorly impressive output for someone who is nearly a century old.
In the past decade alone, he’s directed films like American Sniper, Sully, Richard Jewell, The 15:17 to Paris, The Mule, Juror #2 and the aforementioned Cry Macho, all in his eighth and ninth decades. And there’s allegedly plenty more where those come from: “There’s no reason why a man can’t get better with age. And I have much more experience today,” he shared in a 2025 interview to Austrian newspaper Kurier, per Deadline. “Sure, there are directors who lose their touch at a certain age, but I’m not one of them.”
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – MARCH 02: Julie Andrews arrives at the NBC’s “Carol Burnett: 90 Years Of Laughter + Love” Birthday Special at Avalon Hollywood & Bardot on March 02, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Steve Granitz/FilmMagic) — Source: Steve Granitz/FilmMagic
10. Julie Andrews
Dear reader, let’s get it out of the way: Yes, Julie Andrews, who has been narrating all the bodice-busting action on Bridgerton for the last three seasons as go-to gossipmonger Lady Whistledown, will be be once again lending her iconic voice to the Netflix drama’s upcoming fourth installment.
And that voice has been one of entertainment’s most enduring for six decades, from her Oscar-winning breakthrough Mary Poppins to her Golden Globe-winning turn as Maria von Trapp in The Sound of Music to her comeback role as Queen Clarisse in the crowd-pleasing The Princess Diaries films. It’s still TBD whether the 89-year-old Andrews will reunite with her onscreen granddaughter Anne Hathaway in a third The Princess Diaries movie, which is rumored to start filming this year, but our fingers are very much crossed!
Nonnas. Brenda Vaccaro as Antonella in Nonnas. Cr. Jeong Park/Netflix © 2025. — Source: Jeong Park/Netflix
11. Brenda Vaccaro
A staple of the stage and screen for half a century, 85-year-old Brenda Vaccaro has taken home a Golden Globe (for her performance in the 1975 film adaptation of Jacqueline Susann‘s Once Is Not Enough), an Emmy (for the NBC comedy-variety show The Shape of Things), three Tony Award nominations and an Oscar nod. Her career has stretched from Midnight Cowboy to now, with recent appearances in Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, the Sex and the City spinoff And Just Like That and a starring role in Netflix’s Nonnas.
“I have been enjoying leading roles in theatre and films for a very long time. At this point in my career I couldn’t be be happier to be in a film as brilliant as Nonnas,” Vaccaro told Parade. “I have no wishes on my bucket list. Everything that comes my way is a blessing I enjoy it. I couldn’t be happier to experience it.”
Source: Magnolia Pictures
12. June Squibb
Though a theater actress for decades prior (she made her Broadway debut in the musical Gypsy in 1959), June Squibb was 61 years old when she first lit up the big screen in the Woody Allen romantic comedy Alice in 1990. But the star certainly made up for lost time, filling her senior years with supporting role after supporting role in films such as The Age of Innocence (1993), In & Out (1997), Meet Joe Black (1998), About Schmidt (2002), Far from Heaven (2002) and Nebraska (2013), the latter of which earned Squibb an Academy Award nomination.
June’s first leading role came last year, at the ripe age of 94, in the action comedy Thelma, and she’s got even more up her sleeve: The nearly century-old star will next been seen in Scarlett Johansson‘s directorial debut film Eleanor the Great, playing an older woman who strikes up an unlikely friendship with a 19-year-old student (Erin Kellyman) in New York City. For the upcoming flick, which will be released stateside on September 26, Variety named Squibb as an early contender to win the Academy Award for Best Actress.
About the author
Entertainment Writer, Parade
Christina Izzo is a writer-editor covering culture and lifestyle in New York City. She was previously the Deputy Editor at My Imperfect Life and the Features Editor at Rachael Ray In Season and Reveal. You can find her film and TV coverage at The A.V. Club, CinemaBlend, What to Watch, AwardsWatch and Tom’s Guide, among others.
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