What Naomi Watts Wants You to Know About Aging (and Menopause)

The actor-turned-entrepreneur shares her thoughts on beauty, branding and what it’s like to be an “older” woman working in Hollywood.

December 17, 2024

Naomi Watts doesn’t want women to suffer through menopause alone, the way she did. Instead, the 56-year-old actor (Mulholland Dr., 21 Grams, Eastern Promises) wants to get people talking, sharing and, ultimately, shifting the way we feel about this natural milestone in every woman’s life. She also wants us to rethink our approach to aging.

Despite being told — repeatedly — that women actors age out of Hollywood after 40, Watts is determined to prove otherwise. Recently nominated for an Emmy for her portrayal of 60s-era socialite Babe Paley in FX’s FEUD: Capote Vs. The Swans, Watts returns to the big screen next year alongside Bill Murray (and a Great Dane named Bing) in The Friend. She also has a couple of side hustles: Watts is founder and COO of the pro-aging beauty and wellness brand Stripes, which recently made its Canadian debut at Hudson’s Bay, and her new book Dare I Say It: Everything I’d Wish I’d Known About Menopause, hits shelves in January. We caught up with Watts in Toronto during Stripes’ Canadian launch to find out more about her mission to change the conversation around aging and menopause.

ROOM: You experienced your first symptoms of perimenopause at 36 — did you have any idea what was happening?

Naomi Watts: I was focused on getting pregnant at the time and my bloodwork revealed that I was “close to menopause.” That’s how I found out about perimenopause — I’d never heard the word before. I’d had night sweats and migraines and irregular cycles. My periods were coming too close together. But I didn’t know that that had anything to do with perimenopause. I thought, “it’s probably stress, or PMS, or maybe I shouldn’t have had that extra glass of wine at dinner.” Discovering I actually had perimenopause was a huge shock.

R: What did you do when you realized it wasn’t just stress (or that extra glass of wine)?

NW: This was 20 years ago, and the internet wasn’t very helpful. But I recalled that my mum had gone into menopause early, at the age of 45. I called her right away and asked her why she hadn’t told me more. She explained that she didn’t have those conversations with me because she’d never had them with her own mother. I remember thinking how absurd it is that every generation of women goes through menopause and doesn’t share their experiences or get proper treatment. That we’re just expected to suffer through it in silence. It makes no sense.

R: You’ve made changing the conversation around menopause a personal mission — why did you feel that you had to take it on?

NW: For such a long time, I felt very lonely and scared. Changing how we talk about menopause was almost a way of protecting myself by leaning into my own vulnerability: “This is who I am. I hope it doesn’t spook you, and it’s a bummer if it does.” I know how lonely I felt when I was diagnosed and figured that, chances are, others feel that way, too. I thought maybe I could help create some sense of healing. It’s similar to what I do in my job as a storyteller when I’m trying to bring people together and give them permission to feel or express things that they may not feel comfortable doing on their own. When you go to the cinema and identify with the people on the screen, it helps you process what’s going on in your own life.

R: Going public about your experience with aging and menopause must have felt like a huge risk — what has the response been like?

NW: There have been many times when people have come up to me on the street and asked to take a selfie with me, or they’ll tell me they recognize me from a movie but can’t remember which one. Lately, though, they’ve been coming up and saying, “Thank you.” They thank me for opening up the conversation, and they share that the language I use around menopause has helped them feel comfortable enough to talk to their partners, children or bosses. That has been very meaningful for me.

R: You’ve said in the past that aging is trending. What “pro-aging” changes have you seen in your own industry?

NW: I entered my Hollywood career quite late, and I was told that it would all be finished by age 40 — you’re done after that. That was always the saying. But it turned out not to be true. There is a whole litany of women in their 50s, 60s, 70s and beyond leading stories in film and TV. Finally, things are changing, and stories are expanding because women are interesting at every age. Many great writers, storytellers and filmmakers are cottoning onto that and I’m seeing a shift in the narrative. We’re half the population and our stories need to be told.

R: What prompted you to launch your own pro-aging beauty and wellness brand?

NW: I think the beauty industry has let older women down. They’ve over-promised — but we know that when a package says “anti-aging this” and “reversal that,” these are just empty promises. And I don’t want to look at an ad campaign featuring a 26-year-old because I know I won’t look like that again — and I don’t want to. I actually didn’t feel that comfortable in my body at that age, but I feel comfortable in my body now. I feel better because of all the experiences I’ve been through.

R: Why did you choose the name “Stripes” for the brand?

NW: One of the hardest things to do is to create a name for something like a company, a book, or a film. Everything’s taken. But I had a light bulb moment when I was talking about who the woman that I was creating this brand for was. I was going down my list: she’s wise, her cumulative experiences matter, she’s strong, resilient and relevant. She’s suffered, she’s recovered, she’s authentic — and she’s earned her stripes. That was it. This is a woman who deserves to feel seen and to hold her head high.

R: What’s the one thing you wish you’d known about menopause before you started going through it?

NW: I wish that I had felt freer to talk about it sooner. I feel badly that so many generations of women suffered alone and that there was no empathy for them. And I’m very glad that the conversation around menopause is now open, and that many women are feeling fine about going through it. I feel that mine is the last generation that will have done any amount of suffering on their own and that women are now going to be well set up for menopause — and I feel heartened by that.