Mary Steenburgen knows the age gap in her new romantic comedy film is “unique.”
The Oscar-winning actress, 73, told Obsessed: The Podcast that calling The Dink—her new Apple TV movie, premiering July 24—a “rom-com” is complicated. “This was a much-debated question,” she said. “It’s a unique relationship in a very fun and unique film.”
The Dink follows a former tennis pro (played by New Girl star Jake Johnson, 48) who takes up pickleball with Steenburgen’s divorcée character as his partner. An obvious sexual tension develops, despite their 25-year age gap.
“By the way, I think it’s OK to do a rom-com starring me,” Steenburgen, who has been married to actor Ted Danson for over 30 years, said with a smile.
The star, who won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress in 1981 for her third-ever film, Melvin and Howard, told Obsessed that she assumed her career would be over before she met Danson at 42. So the idea of starring in a romantic comedy at 73 previously never seemed possible.
When she was starting out in her 20s, Steenburgen said she’d often hear from “legendary” actresses who were “not that old,” but still, “they were offered nothing.”
“And so, being a young woman in my 20s and early 30s, I just thought that’s my future,” she said.
“Did I picture rom-com...? I didn’t even imagine I’d be working!” she admitted.
Steenburgen also starred in 2018’s The Book Club and 2023’s Book Club: The Next Chapter alongside older stars, including Jane Fonda, 88, Candice Bergen, 80, and Diane Keaton, who died this past year at 79.
Ultimately, Steenburgen chalks up her career longevity to the way Hollywood has evolved since she started out more than 40 years ago.
“It’s not so much any changes in me or what I’ve done,” she said modestly. “I think the business has gotten, in some ways, kinder to women. And so you see performances by women my age and older that are vibrant and lovely, and funny and fun—and it’s thrilling. And so I’m grateful.”
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