Jessica Lange’s Look Divided Fans as She Proudly Showed Wrinkles – At 74 She Enjoys Grandkids Who Didn’t Recognize Her on TV

It was 1975, and Wilhelmina chose to recommend Lange for the role. After her screen test, she landed the role, and the following year, “King Kong” hit theaters.

The movie became a box office hit and paved the way for Lange’s Hollywood career. However, it didn’t come easy for her, as reviews for her performance were negative due to her lack of acting background.

Despite this, she signed a seven-year contract with De Laurentiis. For the first three years, she didn’t have any projects, largely because of her romantic relationship with Russian dancer Mikhail Baryshnikov.

In 1979, she was given a way back into the acting world through “All That Jazz.” The following year, she was cast as the lead role in “How to Beat the High Cost of Living.”

Though these movies gave her a stable source of income, it was in 1981 that she was finally recognized by both critics and viewers as an actress worth keeping an eye on. She was on “The Postman Always Rings Twice” with Jack Nicholson, and it received rave reviews.

That same year, Lange gave birth to her first and only child with Baryshnikov, Alexandra. Shortly after, the actress’ career began to skyrocket.

In 1982, her performance in “Frances,” where she portrayed actress Frances Farmer, garnered her an Academy Award nomination for best actress. It was during that time that she met Sam Shepard, whom she ultimately fell in love with after her relationship with Baryshnikov started to fizzle down.

She also won an Academy Award for best supporting actress for “Tootsie,” where she co-starred with Dustin Hoffman and Teri Garr. At the time, she and Teresa Wright were the only two actresses who were nominated twice in one year at the Oscars.

Lange continued to shine after that. She had several films, and in 1994, she won yet another Academy Award, this time for best actress in “Blue Sky,” where she starred with Tommy Lee Jones.

From the 1990s until the 2000s, Lange had consistent work on several films. In recent years, she appeared on “Grey Gardens” alongside Drew Barrymore, which landed her an Emmy Award.

Then came “American Horror Story,” where Lange portrayed several characters through the years. She won an Emmy three times for the show, one in 2012, another in 2014, and one more in 2015.

One of her most recent projects was on the TV series “Feud,” where she portrayed Joan Crawford. For the show, she won an Emmy Award and was nominated for a Golden Globe.

Lange noted that Crawford was 10 years younger than she was when she starred in the film “What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?” The film was the center of the anthology series, and Lange noted Crawford’s career was finished by that time when she was only 57 years old.

With so much time that has gone by, Lange has gone from a young, aspiring actress to a versatile A-lister. Now, the actress is 74, and her looks have changed.

Jessica Lange in Recent Times

Everybody ages. While everyone wants to age peacefully and gracefully, it can become difficult for famous celebrities to do just that, especially with everyone keeping an eye on their every move.

A clip from Lange’s new Netflix series “The Politician” debuts her brand new look – one that still allows her fans to recognize her for her beautiful eyes but with a face that now shows signs of aging. Fans couldn’t help but weigh in on how she’s aged and what they think about her new look.

Some fans accused Lange of getting plastic surgery to keep a youthful look on her face. They didn’t think it fit the actress, claiming they did not recognize her at first glance.

Others wondered why Lange resulted in getting plastic surgery, especially since she was already beautiful before it. They emphasized that it was hard to recognize the actress based on her new appearance.

“A complete facelift. Didn’t recognize her,” a male fan wrote. “Like the other face.” “She looks hideous,” another commenter harshly said.

“Fillers? Implants? It’s just a shame!!! Why do people do this?? She was simply beautiful, a real natural beauty. Now she looks weird [expletive]!!!” another woman wrote.

Despite all the negative comments, there were others who came to her rescue. “She’s so talented, and I absolutely think she is one of the most beautiful women in the world,” one fan said.

In a series of photos shared by The New York Times, Lange poses candidly for the camera, showing off her natural beauty. In the photos, her fine lines and wrinkles are evidently seen, but she flaunts them confidently and candidly in the photos.

One fan praised Lange for her confidence, saying she looked “perfect and not like a plastic doll.” Ultimately, her ability to exude class while sporting her gray hair and aging skin was something fans lauded her for.

Before the video came out, fans used to constantly praise Lange for choosing to go natural. Sources once wrote back in 2012 that unlike many others her age, Lange chose not to rely on Botox to keep a flawless complexion.

While fans aren’t used to Lange’s older appearance, it’s the opposite for her grandchildren, who aren’t used to seeing her as a young actress. In fact, her grandchildren didn’t even recognize that they were watching their grandmother on television!

“Tootsie” came on, and Lange waited for her grandkids to point out that she was on TV, but they never recognized her, even after a few scenes. “That’s me!” she had to tell her grandchildren.

Even then, during a scene with Hoffman and Garr, they had to ask: “Which one?” It was a hilarious moment for the actress, one that made her love her grandchildren even more.

In 2021, the actress was spotted roaming New York City when COVID-19 pandemic protocols loosened. Wearing casual clothes, she strolled the city while wearing a mask, showing off her then-blonde locks.

Unfortunately for Lange, time hasn’t been her friend, as it hasn’t just been her looks that critics have slammed in recent years. Critics have claimed that she had a “series of flops” following “American Horror Story” and called for her to return to the show.

Despite this, Lange remains unbothered. Whenever she isn’t acting, Lange is hanging out with her family and friends and taking pictures.

In February 2023, Lange was spotted having lunch with Susan Sarandon, her co-star in “Feud.” The longtime pals enjoyed lunch together in New York while exchanging stories.

At the Chicago Humanities Festival, Lange also spoke about her other passion aside from acting: photography. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, it was photography that kept Lange on her feet.

She then published a book called “Derive,” which showcases the photos she took through the years while sharing what inspires her photography. Lange shared that her interest in photography began at the University of Minnesota, where she met a group of photographers who quit school and moved to Europe to make a film.

Lange joined them on their expedition, traveling to the south of Spain, where they made a documentary about the flamenco gypsies. That was Lange’s first interest in photography as an observer.

Decades later, Lange began collecting and surrounded herself with work from great photographers. She was gifted a camera by Shepard, and it was then that she realized she had a special talent for using it.

The actress likes to take black-and-white street photos, showing America in the 21st century. Her raw photos exude intimacy and nostalgia.

Throughout everything, Lange is happy to embrace getting old as a Hollywood celebrity. Working on “Feud” made her realize how women used to take aging, but she didn’t want that to be her reality, saying:

“There are so many tragic stories of women who were so beautiful and couldn’t figure out a way to age within the system.”

Living Life Without The Love of Her Life

Lange lost the love of her life, Sam Shepard, in 2017 due to complications of Lou Gehrig’s disease. He was only 73 at the time of his passing.

Looking back, Shepard once admitted that he and Lange were “an incredible match.” Now that Shepard is no longer around, Lange has poured a lot of her love towards her children and grandchildren.

Speaking about taking care of her grandkids, Lange once said: “It’s the perfect order of nature: You raise your children, and then the next generation comes along. They are the redemptive force in nature. Plus, it’s easier!”

One thing that Lange has tried to teach her grandchildren, Ilse and Adah, is to never allow themselves to be restricted. As Lange has done everything she wanted to do, she wanted her grandkids to be empowered enough to do the same.

In the same way that Lange is a proud grandmother, her grandkids have been equally proud of her. When she won a recent Emmy award, her granddaughter proudly shared with the rest of her class that her “grandmother won a big prize.”

Aside from her own family, Lange has tried to make a difference in the lives of others as well. She was an active UNICEF goodwill Ambassador, taking several trips on behalf of the NGO.

She took a trip to Africa in the early 2000s, where she was photographed with kids in a displaced camp. She also visited children in Mexico in 2004, at the time when she attended the 110th Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) meeting.

When she’s not in New York, Lange is in her Stillwater, Minnesota home, which she shares with her children. The two-acre property boasts an English cottage-style garden, which is landscaped for each of her children. It also has a Buddha garden and several others with fountains, ponds, and flowers.

Speaking about her decision to have a home in Minnesota, Lange admits it’s because of a romantic image in her head where her kids grew up the same way she did – in a small town where they could easily walk to school.

Another reason for wanting a home in Minnesota was so she could raise her children near their extended family. Their home was right next door to that of Lange’s mom.

Every corner of the Shepard family’s home was well thought of. From the borders of their lawn to the flowers lining their steps to the terrace below the house. Everything was meant to be enjoyed by their family in the way Lange and Shepard imagined.

Nowadays, Lange likes to enjoy her time with her children and grandchildren. She is a proud mom to Alexandra “Shura” Baryshnikov, Samuel Walker Shepard, and Hannah Jane Shepard, and a proud grandmother to her two grandchildren.