Andie MacDowell Reveals How Embracing Her Gray Hair Has Made Dating ‘Better’
Andie MacDowell is opening up about her decision to embrace her gray hair.
The actor, 64, spoke to the U.K. publication The Sunday Times about showing off her natural roots and revealed that she simply wanted to look her age.
“People kept saying to me, ‘It’s not time,’ but I disagreed,” she said in an interview published on July 24. “I was kowtowing to everybody else’s beliefs, but I truly want to be where I am and look my age.”
Later in the sit-down, she said her gray hair has another bonus. “I think my eyes look greener and it has made them pop in a way they didn’t before,” she shared.
MacDowell first started referring to herself as a “silver fox” in February 2021 after letting her gray hair grow out while in quarantine.
“I wasn’t coloring my hair ... and you could see my roots, and my daughters kept telling me that I looked badass. And that idea that I could look badass really appealed to me,” she said during an appearance on “The Drew Barrymore Show” at the time.
She continued to rock her new look while posing for pictures at the 74th Cannes Film Festival.
During her Sunday Times interview, MacDowell was also asked how her dating life has changed since going gray.
“It’s better,” she replied.
She laughed and continued, “I might have looked younger and more acceptable to someone before, but I want to be appreciated for where I am, for my age. And the response from men has been, ‘You look beautiful.’”
Although her dating life has improved, MacDowell said she isn’t actively searching for love. She shared with the publication that she is not on any dating apps.
MacDowell then recalled seeing a card that showed a glamorous woman in her fifties lying on a bed.
“‘And it says, ‘Alone at last.’ I laughed so hard because I could relate to that,” she said.
However, the “Groundhog Day” star shared that she isn’t opposed to finding love again.
“If somebody came in and enhanced my life, someone I was going to be romantic with, you know, sexual with, maybe. I would accept it,” she said. “But to tell you the truth they just don’t show up. And I’m not going on an app. It’s not going to happen.”
She added, “My friends keep encouraging me to be in relationships. But I said, you know what really matters to me right now are friendships. And I’m working really hard on that. And why can’t that be enough?”
In 1986, MacDowell tied the knot with former model Paul Qualley. They welcomed three children together — Justin, 36, Rainey, 32, and Margaret, 27 — before splitting in 1999. MacDowell married businessman Rhett Hartzog in 2001 and the couple later divorced in 2004.
Last year, the real-life mother daughter duo of MacDowell and Margaret Qualley portrayed mother and daughter in the Netflix mini-series “Maid.”
Given the show’s heavy subject matter about a struggling single mother (played by Qualley), MacDowell revealed to The Sunday Times that it was difficult seeing her daughter film harrowing scenes.
“It hurt me to see Margaret have to work that hard,” she said. “I would check in with her to be sure she was OK with everything I was doing. And she was. I mean, I just wanted her to be happy. I wanted her to love what I did (in 'Maid'). And she did. And that was what really mattered to me.”
When she wasn’t on set, MacDowell said she would spend the day making soups and roasted potatoes for her daughter.
“I wanted to give her food that would make her healthy because she was always on the verge of getting sick,” she explained.
Despite the physical toll, Qualley’s commitment to the role paid off. Earlier this month, she landed her second Emmy nomination for outstanding lead actress in a limited or anthology series or movie.
