By Krissy Dolor. Updated by Katie Gray.
They say that your 40’s are the best years of your life! Think women over 40 don’t have a place in Hollywood? Take a look at a hit series like Desperate Housewives. After reading this list, you’ll see that it simply isn’t the case. While The Moviefone Blog and other sites have continuously come up with 40 actresses over 40 that are killin’ it on the big screen, Cupid has narrowed it down to our top 10. We wanted them all to be sexy, successful and usually single, but recently settled down. Why? Because many of our favorite celebrity couples are stars who were notoriously in the tabloids for being single. While there’s no doubt that every woman on the list is sexy and successful, let’s highlight the celebrities who prove that you don’t need a man (or woman!) by your side to make it big.
See the top 10 powerhouse women in Hollywood:
1. Jennifer Aniston (47): Though Aniston was constantly singled out as the icon for unmarried and over 40 women until recently (which some tabloids didn’t necessarily view as a good thing), she continued brushing it aside and continued to make us laugh alongside funnymen like Adam Sandler and Ben Stiller. She continued her comedy streak in Horrible Bosses, which included a cast of Jason Bateman, Jason Sudekis and Jamie Foxx. After her divorce from Brad Pitt in 2005, she focused on her career and was a powerful single woman. Now, she is recently married as of 2015, to Justin Theroux. She shows us that being single is definitely a good thing, so you can focus on your career and then settle down with the right one!
2. Halle Berry (49): Berry a Revlon spokeswoman and a former Miss USA runner-up, as well as one of the few African-American women to have won an Oscar for her role in 2002’s Monster’s Ball. She’s been through a lot, including a custody battle with ex Gabriel Aubrey over daughter Nahla, and she hasn’t let it slow her down in the slightest. She was married from 2013-2015 to Oliver Martinez, her co-star in their film, Dark Tide. Though they announced their impending celebrity divorce, it’s not officially over yet and the pair have a son together that they are raising.
3. Sandra Bullock (51): This actress won a Razzie for her comedic flop All About Steve, an Academy Award for The Blind Side the day after, then went through an excruciatingly public breakup with ex-husband Jesse James, handling it with extreme grace. Need we say more? While her celebrity babies Louis and Laila are the true keys to her heart, she has been dating Bryan Randall, a photographer, since late 2015.
Related Link: Celebrity Couples Who Were Friends First
4. Courteney Cox (52): Courteney Cox is famous for her role as Monica Geller on the hit sitcom Friends. Though Cox had an estranged celebrity relationship with longtime husband, David Arquette, she openly supported his decision to check himself into rehab for alcohol abuse and depression. While their future together is long over, the two starred in Scream 4, the movie franchise that brought them together in the first place. They raise their daughter Coco Riley Arquette together, and Jennifer Aniston is the Godmother. She has been dating Johnny McDaid of the band Snow Patrol since 2013. Cox has been keeping busy professionally as well, she was a director on her sitcom Cougar Town and the series Talhotblond.
5. Jodie Foster (53): Jodie Foster first came to fame in Martin Scorsese’s hit film Taxi Driver that starred Robert DeNiro. We’ve all seen Foster on film, but did you know she’s a director, too? Check out The Beaver, where she co-starred alongside Mel Gibson. She has two sons with her ex-partner Cydney Bernard, and in 2014 married photographer and actress Alexandra Hedison.
6. Melissa Leo (55): Melissa Leo appeared on the scene a lot in the 80’s and was a regular on All My Children and The Young Riders. If that doesn’t ring a bell, this longtime actress also won a Golden Globe, Screen Actors Guild and an Oscar for best supporting actress in 2010’s The Fighter. Then, she was alongside Robert Duvall in Seven Days in Utopia and Jesse Eisenberg and Tracy Morgan in Predisposed. She focuses on her children as well: she has a son with boyfriend John Heard and an adopted son, filmmaker, Adam Leo.
7. Susan Sarandon (69): This legendary actress has won an Oscar and a BAFTA award. She was married to Chris Sarandon from 1967-1979, and has had boyfriends like musician David Bowie and Italian filmmaker Franco Amurri. She has three children. Though many have speculated that Sarandon dated ping pong business partner Jonathan Bricklin, it was unclear if they were a pair for awhile. Then, they were the real deal, but broke up last year. But, you never know what the future holds! She was in the Beastie Boy’s Fight for Your Right Revisited, a Sundance short, a sure sign that she’s staying with the times.
Related Link: 5 Celebrity Couples Who Live Modestly
8. Sarah Silverman (40): This funny lady keeps it controversial addressing racism, sexism and religion in her comedy stints, but everyone knows that a woman who isn’t afraid to speak her mind is sexy. She’s had relationships with Jimmy Kimmel and Kyle Dunnigan. You’ve seen her in Take This Waltz with Michelle Williams and Seth Rogen, in Popstar, I Smile Back, Evolution and other blockbuster hits. As of 2014, she’s been dating Michael Sheen.
9. Marisa Tomei (51): Brooklyn native, Marisa Tomei has taken over Hollywood. She’s starred in hits like My Cousin Vinny, The Wrestler and The Lincoln Lawyer, and you’ve seen her in Crazy, Stupid, Love alongside bigwigs like George Clooney, Ryan Gosling and Julianne Moore. She was recently in The Big Short. Tomei has had a longtime on and off relationship with Logan Marshall-Green. She keeps her personal life private, though, and has stated publicly that she doesn’t know why women need to have children to be accepted as complete, and she’s not a big fan of marriage as an institution.
10. Robin Wright (50): After her highly-publicized divorce from Sean Penn, this former soap star threw herself into new projects, including crime thriller Rampart with Steve Buscemi and Sigourney Weaver; Moneyball, an adaptation of author Michael Lewis’ (The Blind Side); and the adaptation of Stieg Larsson’s The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. She was engaged to Ben Foster, twice, but they ended their second engagement last August (2015.) The future will only tell if they will reunite again or not!
Who are your favorite female celebrities over 40 years old? Share your stories below!
