Thelma & Louise actress Geena Davis looked younger than ever as she stepped onto the red carpet at the amfAR Gala Cannes on Thursday night ahead of her hosting duties. The 70-year-old stunned in a white, off-the-shoulder gown with a plunging neckline framed by structured folds that showcased her lithe figure.
Geena brought the drama with a lengthy, voluminous train and completed the look with a diamond cuff and dangling diamond earrings. She wore her brunette locks in stylish, subtle waves down her back and looked confident as she prepared to host the fundraiser.
The star, who has been a staunch feminist and activist for women in film for decades, opened up to The Times about how aging had taught her to accept her beauty.
© Variety via Getty Images"It's a struggle. It's [always been] a struggle," she said of having self-confidence. "It's got much better over the years. I feel like I've got more attractive with every decade. Either I have, or I'm feeling better about myself. Which is great."
Geena founded the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in 2004, after she was watching a children's program with her daughter and realized that it mostly starred male actors. The institute works to gather data on gender inequity in Hollywood and bring it to production companies to encourage them to make changes.
"I found that no one else in Hollywood seemed to be recognizing what I saw," she told Allison Kugel. "There were lots of creators who said, 'No, that's not a problem anymore, it's been fixed.'"
© Variety via Getty Images"People in Hollywood are still resistant to the idea even though my institute found that in 2017 and 2018, movies starring women made more money than movies starring men," she continued. "There's been blockbuster after blockbuster starring women, and it's about time [Hollywood] gets with the program."
See Geena in her latest role below...
The Oscar winner shared her experience with ageism and sexism in Hollywood in the interview, revealing that she was turned down for a role opposite an older male actor. "It's very strange and so prevalent," Geena said. "A certain male actor that was making a movie said that I was too old to be his romantic interest, and I was 20 years younger than him."
"You know what it is? Women peak in their 20s and 30s, and men peak in their 40s and 50s as far as actors go," she explained.
© AFP via Getty Images"So the male stars of the movies want to appear to be younger than they are, or they want to appeal to younger people, so they always want a co-star who is really young. That is why that happens, and that is why women don't get cast very much after 40 and 50. It is because they are felt to be too old to be a romantic interest."
© COURTESY OF NETFLIXGeena is entering a career renaissance at the moment, with a starring role in the upcoming TV series The Boroughs, which coincidentally speaks on the problem of ageism.
"In a seemingly picturesque retirement community, a group of unlikely heroes must band together to stop an otherworldly threat from stealing the one thing they don't have – time," the synopsis reads.
