# Actors and Actresses that look(ed) better at 30 than 20 **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 5, 2009, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-and-actresses-that-look-ed-better-at-30-than-20/501983 "2009-07-05T16:19:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Cat\_Fight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/90ced4/32.png) [@Cat\_Fight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Fight)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2009, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-and-actresses-that-look-ed-better-at-30-than-20/501983/21 "2009-07-05T23:04:12Z")
[George Clooney](http://a.abcnews.com/images/Entertainment/nm_clooney_080528_ssh.jpg) is almost 50, but he’s certainly aging well (as if I’m the first to notice). I don’t think I would have given a 20-something Clooney a second look – it could just be the hairstyle, but I think his eyes look better with wrinkles. ---
**Author:** ![MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MPB_in_Salt_Lake)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2009, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-and-actresses-that-look-ed-better-at-30-than-20/501983/22 "2009-07-05T23:08:07Z")
I had not thought about her for a long time, but here in Salt Lake, they recently began airing re-runs of the (very mediocre) sitcom “Still Standing” and I am struck at how truly stunning Jami Gertz is… I always thought she was attractive back in the 80’s in movies like “Less Than Zero” or “Lost Boys” but she seems (to me at least) to have really come into her own in her late 30s/early 40s. She is not quite as slender as she used to be, and I think she looks better than ever now. (I am a bit surprised she was involved in a show like “Still Standing”—if you have never watched it, know that she is about the only redeeming feature of the series) ---
**Author:** ![tumbleddown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9bcb4/32.png) [@tumbleddown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tumbleddown)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2009, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-and-actresses-that-look-ed-better-at-30-than-20/501983/23 "2009-07-06T01:34:09Z")
Kate Winslet looks more self-possessed now than at 19 in the days of Titanic. Of course, she was 19 and in the biggest movie ever, so that’s surely a part of it. Jonathan Rhys Meyers looks better now, even with his apparent alcohol problems, than he did ten years ago, when he was affecting this waifish, long-haired rent boy look that was really unappealing and chickenhawk-baity. Yuck. He’s far too gorgeous for that. And how about the silver foxes? Mark Harmon is sexier as Jethro Gibbs on NCIS than as the sex symbol of St. Elsewhere, Mark Caldwell. His replacement as resident hottie on St. Elsewhere was Bruce Greenwood, who is still pretty damned smoldering as Captain Pike in Star Trek. And pundit Keith Olbermann is a far more handsome man than sportsanchor Keith Olbermann. Perhaps especially when he keeps his mouth closed. ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2009, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-and-actresses-that-look-ed-better-at-30-than-20/501983/24 "2009-07-06T02:24:31Z")
> [@caligulathegod](#): > > Julia Louis-Dreyfus. She was kind of plain and doughy when she was on Saturday Night Live but she was very hot on Seinfeld. Weird. I was thinking of her as an example, but I was going to use Seinfeld as an example of when she was unattractive. Given how good she looked on, say, Arrested Development, or even now, I wondered if they purposely uglied her up on Seinfeld as part of her character. She has such beautiful hair and it’s totally wasted with how she wore it on Seinfeld. To add: I saw some pictures of Monica Belluci when she appeared to be in her early 20s. She was certainly attractive, but not striking like she was in her mid 30s. ---
**Author:** ![Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aji_de_gallina/32/260_2.png) [@Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aji_de_Gallina)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2009, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-and-actresses-that-look-ed-better-at-30-than-20/501983/25 "2009-07-06T02:27:19Z")
Jennifer Aniston. At the beginning of Friends she was simply pretty, now she’s really hot ---
**Author:** ![tumbleddown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9bcb4/32.png) [@tumbleddown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tumbleddown)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2009, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-and-actresses-that-look-ed-better-at-30-than-20/501983/26 "2009-07-06T02:50:57Z")
> [@SenorBeef](#): > > Weird. I was thinking of her as an example, but I was going to use Seinfeld as an example of when she was unattractive. Given how good she looked on, say, Arrested Development, or even now, I wondered if they purposely uglied her up on Seinfeld as part of her character. She has such beautiful hair and it’s totally wasted with how she wore it on Seinfeld. Julia Louis-Dreyfus has naturally curly hair, something that professional hairstylists around the U.S. have major problems with. Her hairstyling, or lack thereof, on Seinfeld was a representation of that. Her hairstyling now is also a representation of that – it’s not styled as is, but straightened first. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2009, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-and-actresses-that-look-ed-better-at-30-than-20/501983/27 "2009-07-06T03:05:47Z")
Melissa Gilbert was wholesomely plain as a child actor and seemed to be stuck at that “awkward” stage waaay into her 20’s. ( Of course, next to Rob Lowe, anyone would come off badly!) Now she’s in her 40’s, had some work done, and is quite strikingly attractive, IMO. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2009, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-and-actresses-that-look-ed-better-at-30-than-20/501983/28 "2009-07-06T03:11:23Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Michelle Phillips My God! She was pretty as a kid but then I saw her on ST:TNG and I said, “She looks like our friend H. when she hits that age.” Except H. didn’t and had to settle for looking like Julia Roberts’ sister–you know, the one with a _figure?_ I confess that I dismissed Billie Piper when she was a kid. She’s starting to grow into her face. Anyway, I’m an old fart and I like a few unaltered miles on the chassis. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2009, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-and-actresses-that-look-ed-better-at-30-than-20/501983/29 "2009-07-06T03:13:28Z")
> [@Aspidistra](#): > > I think another note of caution is needed here - pictures taken now will be with a “look” that is fashionable now … pictures taken ten years ago have ten-year-old fashions, and will probably automatically look “worse” to a lot of people. Again, as an old fart, those look a little too modern. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Abby\_Emma\_Sasha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e68b1a/32.png) [@Abby\_Emma\_Sasha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Abby_Emma_Sasha)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2009, 7:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-and-actresses-that-look-ed-better-at-30-than-20/501983/30 "2009-07-06T07:22:58Z")
James Marsden I’d seen him some older movies like _Gossip_ and _Disturbing Behaviour_ but I never thought he was sexy back then. Too girlie looking for my tastes. Then when I saw him in _Hairspray_ I thought “Wow, Jimmy has really grown up. He’s a hunk now”. So much hotter in his old age(he’s 36). ---
**Author:** ![chique](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@chique](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chique)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2009, 7:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-and-actresses-that-look-ed-better-at-30-than-20/501983/31 "2009-07-06T07:51:32Z")
Sandra Bullock has been making the talk show rounds lately. She’s gone from cute to stunning in the last few years. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2009, 8:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-and-actresses-that-look-ed-better-at-30-than-20/501983/32 "2009-07-06T08:12:15Z")
> [@Cat\_Fight](#): > > [George Clooney](http://a.abcnews.com/images/Entertainment/nm_clooney_080528_ssh.jpg) is almost 50, but he’s certainly aging well (as if I’m the first to notice). I don’t think I would have given a 20-something Clooney a second look – it could just be the hairstyle, but I think his eyes look better with wrinkles. I was going to mention him. I saw a clip once of him in Roseanne and he made me think of an extremely well-made inflatable doll; he just didn’t look real. Clip [here](http://www.tressugar.com/666245) ---
**Author:** ![Drain\_Bead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47774/32.png) [@Drain\_Bead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drain_Bead)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2009, 11:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-and-actresses-that-look-ed-better-at-30-than-20/501983/33 "2009-07-06T11:06:44Z")
> [@Cat\_Fight](#): > > [George Clooney](http://a.abcnews.com/images/Entertainment/nm_clooney_080528_ssh.jpg) is almost 50, but he’s certainly aging well (as if I’m the first to notice). I don’t think I would have given a 20-something Clooney a second look – it could just be the hairstyle, but I think his eyes look better with wrinkles. I came in here to mention that Roseanne-era Clooney was goofy-looking…definitely cute, but not the World’s Sexiest Man by any stretch. He is hotter now than he was then. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2009, 11:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-and-actresses-that-look-ed-better-at-30-than-20/501983/34 "2009-07-06T11:15:32Z")
Just to be contrary: too many Hollywood starlets start out at a comfortable weight, but then as they age, decide to become skeletons, probably because they think it will make them look younger. It doesn’t. Cameron Diaz looked amazing in The Mask, looks dreadful now. Courtney Cox is another example. ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2009, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-and-actresses-that-look-ed-better-at-30-than-20/501983/35 "2009-07-06T12:00:53Z")
I think the Britney Spears of 2007 is much sexier than the Britney Spears of 2000. In other words I think she looked better during the period in her life when the entire media and internet was lambasting her as “fat” and “trashy” than at any other point in her career. ---
**Author:** ![Sablicious](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbce88/32.png) [@Sablicious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sablicious)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2009, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-and-actresses-that-look-ed-better-at-30-than-20/501983/36 "2009-07-06T12:06:50Z")
Catherine Zeta-Jones. I win! 😛 ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2009, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-and-actresses-that-look-ed-better-at-30-than-20/501983/37 "2009-07-06T12:48:18Z")
Nicole Kidman. ---
**Author:** ![Cumberdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8c91f0/32.png) [@Cumberdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cumberdale)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2009, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-and-actresses-that-look-ed-better-at-30-than-20/501983/38 "2009-07-06T13:24:49Z")
> [@BrotherCadfael](#): > > Just to be contrary: too many Hollywood starlets start out at a comfortable weight, but then as they age, decide to become skeletons, probably because they think it will make them look younger. It doesn’t. Cameron Diaz looked amazing in The Mask, looks dreadful now. Courtney Cox is another example. I was going to say the same thing. This is very noticable on TV. An actress will be attractive in season one, then by season two will look scrawny and unhealthy. ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2009, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-and-actresses-that-look-ed-better-at-30-than-20/501983/39 "2009-07-06T13:47:25Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > Nicole Kidman. No way. The opposite in fact. She was incredibly hot in _Dead Calm_ and _Days of Thunder_. Now she looks very odd and plastic. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2009, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-and-actresses-that-look-ed-better-at-30-than-20/501983/40 "2009-07-06T13:58:35Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > compare how Kate Beckinsale looks in **[Much Ado About Nothing](http://www.movieactors.com/freezeframes5/muchado984.jpeg)** to how she looks in **[Underworld](http://www.independentcritics.com/images/underworld%20evolution%20SPLASH.jpg)**. IMHO she’s far prettier now than when she was in her early twenties. Wow. I totally forgot she was in Much Ado About Nothing. And you’re absolutely right - she’s stunning now, while she was merely adorable a decade ago. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-and-actresses-that-look-ed-better-at-30-than-20/501983.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-and-actresses-that-look-ed-better-at-30-than-20/501983.md?page=3)