<\/p>\n
Naomi Watts<\/a> sighs when she thinks about how menopause<\/a> was portrayed in movies when she was growing up.<\/p>\n It was all jokes about hot flashes and emotional, hormonal women.<\/p>\n No one talked much about it then, so the big screen was the only place she learned about the midlife moment. Those scenes shaped her view so much that she didn\u2019t even realize many of her own symptoms \u2013 from dry eyes<\/a> to frozen shoulder \u2013 were signs that she was nearing menopause.<\/p>\n Now at 57, Watts wants to change this narrative.<\/p>\n Podcasters, creators<\/a>, comedians and writers are taking menopause conversations from taboo to mainstream. And Hollywood producers need to follow, Watts says. She is pushing for more stories that redefine midlife as a time of power, not decline.<\/p>\n \u201cWe need to see ourselves represented,\u201d she tells USA TODAY. \u201cTalking about menopause and showing our stories in movies can help women feel less alone. It\u2019s about taking the shame and stigma away and that\u2019s important through storytelling of all kinds.\u201d<\/p>\n It wasn\u2019t long after Watts filmed \u201cKing Kong\u201d in 2005 (landing her on Forbes\u2019 list of most bankable actresses<\/a>) when she went to see her doctor about having her first baby.<\/p>\n She was in her late 30s and her doctor told her she was in perimenopause. She was shocked. After a struggle to get pregnant and a miscarriage, Watts went on to have two children one year apart. Then her menopause symptoms began.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was a lonely, scary time,\u201d she remembers.<\/p>\n Growing up in a time when there were two roles for women \u2014 romantic lead and grandma \u2014 Watts kept her menopause to herself. She worried that talking about it publicly would end her career.<\/p>\n It took her more than 10 years to tell her menopause stories, becoming one of the first celebrities to do so widely. Many followed, from Drew Barrymore who shared that she was having a hot flash during an interview on her talk show in 2023 to Halle Berry<\/a> who joined U.S. senators at the Capitol last year to push for more money for menopause research and education.<\/p>\n Watts co-founded Stripes, a menopause beauty and wellness brand, in 2022. The company sells everything from vitamins to vaginal cream. Her book, \u201cDare I Say It: Everything I Wish I Knew About Menopause,\u201d<\/a> which combined funny and relatable stories with expert advice, was published in 2025. (The book comes out in paperback in February.)<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t want to be told it\u2019s time to stop,\u201d she says. \u201cI have plenty more to say and do.\u201d<\/p>\n Has there been a movie in the past decade featuring a menopause story line?<\/p>\n Watts says it\u2019s hard to think of one.<\/p>\n OK, how about TV?<\/p>\n There\u2019s \u201cLeeanne,\u201d<\/a> the sitcom from comedian Leeanne Morgan. And, um, great moments on \u201cFleabag\u201d<\/a> (going back six years) and a reference in Watts\u2019 \u201cAll\u2019s Fair\u201d<\/a> legal drama that came out this fall with a cast of actors over 40 including with Glenn Close<\/a>, 78, Sarah Paulson, 51, Niecy Nash, 55, and Kim Kardashian, 45.<\/p>\n Menopause is nearly invisible on the screen. Of the 225 films prominently featuring a 40-plus female character released between 2009 and 2024, only 6% (14 films) mentioned menopause, the Geena Davis Institute<\/a> found in a December 2025 study.<\/p>\n One featured menopause as a recurring story line: In \u201cSex and the City 2,\u201d Kim Catrall\u2019s character navigates menopause and hormone therapy.<\/p>\n Most rely on menopause as a comedic device, a joke to explain women\u2019s mood swings.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s fine to do all the funny stuff. I\u2019m not poo pooing that,\u201d Watts says, laughing. \u201cBut it\u2019s obviously much more in depth and complex like that. It doesn\u2019t have to be all doom and gloom if you have the education.\u201d<\/p>\nFearing menopause would end her career<\/h2>\n
Will menopause have its movie moment?<\/h2>\n