He's Getting Better

A lot of A-list Hollywood actors are looking, well, decidedly middle-aged and ordinary to me these days. Tom Hanks' boyish charms have long since disappeared. Even the well-preserved Harrison Ford looks more like his 66 years than he used to. Robert DeNiro looks like the guy on the next barstool at Happy Hour. And when I look at pretty boys like Pierce Brosnan or Denzel Washington, I'm reminded of what my stepdaughter said when she watched Uptown Saturday Night with me years ago: "Bill Cosby wasn't bad looking when he was younger." In other words, they look like middle-aged guys who were probably quite handsome . . . back in the day.

But Kevin Costner, who in an interesting twist never struck me as being particularly good-looking when he rose to prominence 20 years ago, is looking really sexy as he promotes his new comedy, Swing Vote. Actually, with the facial hair he reminds me of Tom Selleck (who when last seen looked pretty good to me).

I suspect I'm not alone in being older myself and salivating over a 35 to 40-ish group of actors: Jude Law, Terrence Howard, Morris Chestnut. But is there an actor over 50 who still rings your bell?

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Bettye, my mom & I was talking about Billy Dee Williams the other day. He's one that ages well. He still looks good (well he did in the last movie I saw him in anyway).

Let's see Prince has aged well (he turned 50 recently)...I'm a Prince fan so I might be a little bias.

Now one person who hasn't aged well is Kadeem Hardison (Dwayne Wayne from A Different World). I just saw him on this show last week and I was like-woe is that him and it was.

PatriciaW said...

Haven't seen either one in some time but the ones who used to do it were Sean Connery and Harry Belafonte.

Gwyneth Bolton said...

Over 50, hmmm.... Denzel is 50, right? I hope so, because I'm trying to think of others and drawing a blank. I think he'd be the only one. I love Sidney Poitier, but the last time I saw him he was looking a lot older. I do think he aged really well though and when he was in his 50s he was still HOT.

Gwyneth

DonnaD said...

Okay, Tom Selleck still does it for me, so does Sean Connery. And I really think Martin Sheen is hot. (don't laugh) As is Richard Schiff (from "The West Wing") as long as he has his beard. Denzel is still sexy, as is Samuel L. Jackson (is he 50?). Billy Dee is my all-time idol (even though he's moving slower, he still has that somethin', as seen in "GH: Night Shift"). Oh, let's not forget Richard Dean Anderson and Stuart Damon (Alan from General Hospital).

Man, I could go on, but the list would be too long.

bettye griffin said...

Shelia, I haven't seen Prince lately, but Billy Dee looks fairly good at 71. He does a commercial (although my husband says he's a little old to be acting the player in a room furnished in all white).

Good choices, Patricia! I think both those men have gotten better with age. Harry Belafonte is 81, and Sean Connery 78.

Gwyneth, your question reminds me of something supermodel Beverly Johnson said that suggested she was 50, which I thought was pretty funny because she was doing magazine covers when I was 12 and I'm now 51! A number of people said she's got to be closer to 60, although she looks fabulous. And yes, Denzel is 53. He doesn't look bad, but he's definitely gotten older. Like Richard Gere, he's lost some of his luster to me.

Donna, Tom Selleck still looks good to me, too. Martin Sheen is aging quite well. I don't know who Richard Schiff is, but Samuel L. Jackson will be 60 this year! He does look good for his age. His height and fitness belie how old he is. Rarely have I seen an actor who can change his look completely, based on the character he's playing.

Thanks for commenting, all!