...the 37-year-old actress, Naomi Watts. After toiling in Hollywood limbo for more than a decade in mostly forgettable flicks, she finally hits it big in David Lynch's "Mulholland Drive" (which should have earned her an Oscar) and then goes on to bag a well-deserved Best Actress nomination for "21 Grams" (which she should've won then).

Of course, Ms. Watts is "lucky" because she CAN actually ACT - and how! - without resorting to Acting mannerisms a la Meryl Streep. She's also blessed with youthful looks, unlike others her age who don't possess even half her thespian gifts. She hasn't peaked yet, and I foresee a long and fruitful career before her.

Sometimes, it's just a matter of luck, too. Or a nice break. I'm sure Ms. Watts is eternally grateful to Mr. Lynch for the break. Or at least she should be.

As for Meg Ryan, I was just wondering what ever happened to "America's Sweetheart"? Now I know. Very sad. Good that she's trying something different, but she also needs some wise counsel about the decisions she takes.

Go see "Searching For Debra Winger" by Rosanna Arquette, and you'll feel exasperated with some Hollywood actresses as they whine, whine, whine about how the film industry "maltreats" them, and then do nothing about it. I think there's a lot more to be accomplished if they decide to finally stop the whining and band together - or something - and produce films for themselves. (Learn from Selma Hayek - who took it upon herself to produce "Frida", even if it took her 7 years to do so.)

Oh my....Doctor Zachary seems to want it all ways....he wants to blame the `Culture' for making women out of their 30s seem too old - and he blames those over 40 for the audacity of making us watch them age ...The truth is that it isnt the `culture' that makes me some women feel unwanted after 40 - its idiots like this . He makes a vile, rude and still cliched comment about plastic surgery and blames it on one of them on his kids (low) and sneers his way through all the rest of his stated wisdom...gulp...this was about the ugliest and most tasteless thing Ive read, maybe ever....yikes, just yuck...What a presposterous, pretentous punk this un-Good Doctor must be.

Timothy Howe

brother to two sisters

Dr. Zachary Smith is the reason I won't subscribe here. He's a bully and he's mean.

Paying for Salon is like paying for hatred and intolerance.

Hatred and intolerance should be free.

I forgot I don't belong here. How silly of me to forget that!

these actresses. When I think of Sarah Jessica Parker, Nicole Kidman, Meg Ryan, Jessica Lang (who by the way can also act), I think of their bony faces and tendinous necks and fingers that look like they have been washing clothes on a washboard, red and big-knuckled. How is that a good look for a woman in her 40s? Unfortunately the days when you could start out pretending to be adorable (like Katharine Hepburn) and then flower into a truly great actress (Long Days Journey into Night) are over. There are very few women with leading roles who truly look like they are in their 50s or 60s. It's like what's his name said in Sunset Boulevard, "There's nothing wrong with being 50 unless you're trying to be 30." That movie seems so crazy in hindsight because I thought Norma looked pretty good. It was the crazy hats and stuff that made her look older. My point is that it kind of hurts to look at some older actresses who are pulled tight and starving, but when you look at a wrinkled person like Jane Fonda, she looks nice, like an older Jane Fonda, pretty natural. Actually people do want to see a woman in her 50s with some life under her belt in a movie. It's not young people who have the most interesting lives or even the most interesting points of view. I guess I don't blame the actresses for clinging to youth (though it's impossible to look young forever, you can look good, but not young), but the reality is they won't work if they don't, so that's sad. Say what you want about some of the older actors' choices of film, but it's still true that a lot of younger actors bring only youth and beauty to a picture or character, nothing more.

that nothing is scarier on a person than the bizarre combination of giant lips and a tiny bony pulled tighter than tight face.

The thing is, if audiences watched actresses in their 50s in the same way they do actresses in their early 20s, then these women would have careers.

But there's really no accounting for taste. I mean, my God, Paris Hilton is one of the top search items on Yahoo all the time, and she looks like a freak with dead eyes.

The reality is that teenagers are the ones who buy movie tickets in vast quantities (adults just don't go to the movie theater in the same kinds of numbers), and mostly kids don't want to watch movies about middle aged women.

If you want middle aged women to have acting careers, then audiences need to religiously go to the movie theater to support them. Vote with your ticket purchases.

The business isn't kind to aging beautiful boys either--I think they also hit a wall around 40. The thing is, movies rely on pigeon holing actors--isn't John Cusack a bit too mature for the callow romantic guy at this point?

Also, I happen to think Hawn is an exception. She's had a strong hand in her movies since Private Benjamin. She's also treated "lookism" in her roles humorously (Death Becomes Her, First Wives Club). But, again, when she did serious roles, the movies weren't hits.

As ever, character actors fare best over time, but is it likely an up and coming actor, a Scarlett Johansen say, is going to be cast in roles that call for a young Kathy Bates? Even if she were to pursue such a role, it would still be a struggle to convince casting directors to cast her against type. These actors are being held to account for clinging to their younger roles, but I don't think they really have as much control over their roles as outsiders like to believe. The inexorable loss of youth is tough for everyone, and even more problematic when potential employers, such as directors, are seeking not only beauty but also a fresh face. At that juncture, a lot of actors look toward working on stage or doing voice work or producing.

As for plastic surgery, do we seriously believe that male actors don't have themselves freshened or botoxed or eating disorders?

Catherine Denueve said in an interview a few years ago that in the US we talk about freedom and choice a great deal, but women are not free to age, to gain weight, to mature. So how free, exactly, are we?