Many celebrities are chasing youth in the hopes of reaching immortal beauty, under pressure from Hollywood and discerning fans who impose unachievable standards of perfection.
Helen Hunt is elegantly embracing the faults of ageing while dismissing others’ expectations, and she looks stunning!
Helen Hunt has been appearing on TV shows since she was a youngster, and millions of fans have watched her grow from the fresh-faced girl to the now accomplished 59-year-old, whose years show on her face, adding to her natural beauty.
Hunt began performing when she was just 11 years old. Her major break came in The Swiss Family Robinson, a TV series that aired from 1975 to 1976 about a shipwrecked family stranded on a volcanic island. She played Helga Wagner, a young girl from the same shipwreck who was taken in by the Robinsons.
She later featured on The Mary Tyler Moore Show as the daughter of Murray Slaughter (played by Gavin McLeod), in an episode of The Bionic Woman with Lindsay Wagner, and in Facts of Life. Rollercoaster (1977), in which she co-starred with Hollywood luminaries Henry Fonda and George Segal, was her breakthrough film.
The following decade catapulted her into stardom with roles in classic 1980s films such as Girls Just Want to Have Fun (1985), co-starring with another rising star, Sarah Jessica Parker, Project X (1987), co-starring Matthew Broderick, and Next of Kin (1989), co-starring the late Patrick Swayze and Ben Stiller in one of his earlier roles.
Hunt became a big name in the 1990s after appearing in the smash comedy series Mad About You, opposite Paul Reiser, who later starred in the Netflix series Stranger Things.
She won four Emmys in a row and three Golden Globes for her portrayal of one half of a newlywed pair. She also directed a few episodes, including the 1999 series finale.
In an interview with People, Hunt said of her daughter and Reiser, “… My daughter loves Stranger Things, so when he calls, she gets excited.” She’s never watched an episode of Mad About You, but she loves Stranger Things!” Hunt and her 16-year companion, Matthew Carnahan, have one daughter, born in 2004.
Hunt is also recognised for her part as a storm chaser in the adrenaline-fueled film Twister (1996), her Academy Award-winning performance in 1997’s As Good as it Gets, co-starring with Hollywood royalty Jack Nicholson, and her roles in the 2000 films Cast Away and What Women Want.
Her most recent roles include a journalist in BBC’s World on Fire and a recurrent character in Blindspotting. She has also worked as a director on shows such as Californication, House of Lies, and This is Us.
She announced in 2021 that she was working on a Twister revival starring a diverse cast of storm chasers “from HBCU [historically Black college and university],” but the story was rejected.
“I tried to get it made,” Hunt admitted in 2021. “I was planning to direct it… We couldn’t even get a meeting in June 2020, when it was all about diversity. It would have been awesome.”
Twisters will be released by Universal Pictures without Hunt in July 2024.
With her timeless performances and beauty, Hunt, who has received several accolades and nominations, has become a fixture in Hollywood culture throughout the years.
She’s recently been the subject of numerous debates as one of Hollywood’s most recognisable faces–a face that has evolved over the years.
With a career spanning more than four decades, normal bodily changes are to be expected; but, as a celebrity, Hunt is not immune to unvarnished public criticism.
After an accident in 2019, in which the SUV in which she was a passenger was t-boned by another automobile, forcing it to rollover, speculation that she underwent plastic surgery began. She was briefly hospitalised but quickly recovered, and she was back on set filming the limited series remake of Mad About You within a week.
When asked about revisiting her role, Hunt told People, “It was a very loving piece of work.” It was fantastic. It would be interesting to work on something that is truly about love. But we’ll be older, and I hope people are prepared for it. “I’m not ready for it!”
Shortly later, Radar Online published an article claiming that the singer had undergone too much plastic surgery. In the story, she is described as “ageless,” “mannequin-like,” and “…her expression more static than usual.”
Fans, on the other hand, were ready to defend her. “I’m not an expert on spotting facelifts and such, but Helen Hunt today still looks like Helen Hunt from Mad About You, just older,” one user said. That’s what occurs when three decades pass: people age.” Another commented, “I think we are so used to seeing women who have puffed up their lips and lifted both eyes and forehead, that a woman who is ageing normally looks odd to us.”
Tight-lipped about reports of a nip and tuck to smooth the creases on her face, Hunt may benefit from a makeup artist, who may achieve the same results with some miraculous strokes of their brush.
Indeed, there are numerous Hollywood beauty secrets that keep superstars appearing young. Combining a good diet and exercise with expensive non-surgical spa treatments has shown to provide effects!
Hunt is an extremely active person who isn’t afraid to flaunt her healthy physique. “As a general rule, I tend to move,” she revealed in an interview. I never go to the gym. I never, ever diet. I used to diet, but it made me unhappy after the 1980s, although I do enjoy walking, running, and cycling.
As we all know, being a woman in Hollywood can be difficult.
In a 2019 interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Hunt described how she has been objectified throughout her career and how she intends to contribute to a more inclusive environment.
“What are the great films for younger women in which they are the protagonists that are being made right now?” You understand what I mean? There is no equal rights amendment at all. “We’re screwed,” Hunt said to the Huffington Post in 2015.
Hunt has been involved in many advocacy and humanitarian activities to support women’s rights and empowerment, speaking out against female objectification.
“I certainly drive around, and I’m tired of the billboards where she’s barely in her underwear and they’re selling, you know, a watch or something,” Hunt explained.
“I’m over it, to be honest.”