andie macdowell looking gorgeous in a purple and blue long evening dress at cannes film festival © Kristy Sparow

Andie MacDowell, 66, rocks natural grey hair as daughter wins big at Cannes

Andie MacDowell has a refreshing attitude to ageing...

Director of Lifestyle & Commerce
May 27, 2024

Vogue magazine described Andie MacDowell as the "coolest mum in Cannes" and it's clear to see why. The 66-year-old actress, most famous for her role in Four Weddings And A Funeral, has been in Cannes hitting the red carpet with style and grace.  

As well as being the coolest mum in Cannes, she's also the proudest mother, too! The former model's daughter, Margaret Qualley, is having an exceptional Cannes Film Festival after her movie The Substance - a grisly horror comedy starring Demi Moore - gained critical acclaim. 

As well as inheriting beauty, Margaret Qualley also inherited her mother's screen acting talents.

On drawing inspiration from her mother, Margaret recently told ELLE: "I was always super proud of my mom. Her job always mattered a lot to her. She’s a really hard worker. And I think it’s part of the reason why I’ve always been able to dream so big is because of her success. It made me believe that the sky’s the limit."

© Getty Images

Margaret Qualley posing alongside her co-star Demi Moore at the Carlton Cannes Hotel during Cannes Film Festival

In recent years, Andie's grey hair has often been the topic of discussion. 

© Getty Images

Andie MacDowell attends the La Plus Precieuse Des Marchandises (The Most Precious Of Cargoes) red carpet at the 77th annual Cannes Film Festival

"I think it’s more interesting to see me like this," MacDowell said back in 2021, when she was discussing her decision to 'embrace' her natural greys on the red carpet at Cannes. 

"I suffered in this business as an actress always having people wanting me to look younger. For me, it kind of hurts my heart that I can’t embrace where I am because, honestly, I feel like I am enough right where I am. I don’t want people to have the expectation that I need to look younger to have value, or to be beautiful or desirable."

© Getty Images

Andie MacDowell attends the closing ceremony red carpet at the 77th annual Cannes Film Festival

In a recent conversation with Katie Couric, the Groundhog Day actress shared her refreshing perspective on ageing in Hollywood. 

She revealed that since deciding to let her hair go grey, she feels more authentically herself, regardless of public opinion. "How old do you think I look?" she asked Katie, "I'm going to be 65. What do you think I look, 75, just because I let my hair go grey? I don't care. I want to be old."

"I'm tired of trying to be young. I don't want to be young, I've been young," the actress confessed, expressing that the effort of maintaining a youthful appearance in the midst of other health and beauty routines was simply too much hard work.

"To be an older person trying to be young, what an effort," she said. "I just can't keep up the charade! I can't!"

Andie revealed that embracing her natural salt-and-pepper hair had surprising benefits. 

"As it was growing out, my eyes popped and the colour of them looked a little different. My skin looked better," she noted. "It empowered me more. I felt more powerful and I felt more genuine and I felt more myself."

She also confessed that she had been considering this move for quite some time, but had often been discouraged from showcasing her natural hair colour. 

"It was something I wanted young, at a younger age, I thought that it would suit me," she shared, "I thought it would look good on my face. 

"And when it started growing out during COVID, I saw I was right...It looks good on me."

Whilst open to changing her mind in the future, Andie highlighted the fantastic aspect of beauty, stating, "We have a lot of options."

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