Jane Seymour wants to be 'poster child' for older women
Harry Wild actress Jane Seymour, 75, wants to be the "poster child for women over 50".
Jane Seymour wants to be the "poster child for women over 50".
The 75-year-old actress is delighted to play the titular retired professor-turned-amateur sleuth in Harry Wild because she loves being able to show it's possible for people to still live full and exciting lives, and find different ways to use their skills in their later years, rather than just sit around waiting to die.
Speaking during a panel at Fanboy Expo Knoxville at the Knoxville Convention Center in Tennessee over the weekend, People magazine reports she said: “Having Harry Wild at this time of my life is just huge for me, to play a woman of a certain age who’s not decided to go live under a rock and then wait for the end of their life.
“I’m hoping that I’m the poster child for women over 50 to realise that post-menopause, the kids are gone, you may or not have a partner in your life anymore or want one or get one, but life is not over.
"You may have retired, but it doesn’t mean you can’t now use your skill set and your passion for life to do something else with the skills that you have.”
Jane noted she has been playing "older people" in this phase of her career such as roles in The Kominsky Method and Ruby's Choice and has welcomed having a varied choice of parts.
She said: "I don’t stick to one thing. I’m not trying to play younger than I am. I’m just trying to be authentically my kind of age span and tell those stories. And I’m privileged.”
Of shows such as Harry Wild, which she “can actually be the lead in,” she added: “I’m not just some random grandmother in the background.”
Jane recently announced her engagement to John Zambetti, 78, after three years of dating, and the couple have urged other older people to be "open" to finding love later in life.
John told Fox News Digital: "I think you just have to be out there and be open to it. I mean, just don't be in a shell, just be open to it, because it's all out there.
"There's lovely people out there everywhere. I mean this is just kind of a miracle in my opinion."
Jane added: "In my opinion, too. It's a miracle.
"I love him. I cannot believe that I got lucky enough to find the perfect person at this time in my life. I was not available before, and he wasn't available before. So, you know, now is it, right now."
It will be the fifth marriage for Jane, who was previously married to theatre director Michael Attenborough from 1971, author Geoffrey Planer from 1977 to 1978, business manager David Flynn from 1981 to 1992 and actor James Keach from 1993 to 2015.
