Susan Sarandon on turning 80 and ageing naturally

There’s two ways to go as you get older,” says Hollywood powerhouse Susan Sarandon.

“One is to try to preserve what’s there. The other one is to try to stay curious – and I’m taking my cues from those people as opposed to getting a lot of Botox and trying to keep everything frozen. I’m not interested in being frozen!”

The Thelma & Louise star has had plenty of time to think about the ageing process: she turns 80 on October 4 and is still working steadily in front of the cameras.

“If you want to age gracefully, you don’t smoke cigarettes and probably laugh a lot, and you get the normal amount of exercise, eat well and stay out of the sun. Those would be the main things – as is having an amazing makeup and hair team. That’s really the secret.”

From starring as naive Janet Weiss in the cult 1975 movie The Rocky Horror Picture Show to acclaimed crime drama Dead Man Walking, Susan has long been considered one of Hollywood’s most timeless legends. But don’t expect a memoir to appear any time soon.

“I have sworn never to do that,” she says.

“The things that are really interesting I just can’t talk about.”

When once approached to put pen to paper, she brushed off the offer, joking, “What about a book about all the people I could have slept with and didn’t?”

As the eldest of nine siblings tasked with being a second mother to her brothers and sisters, becoming a globally famous movie star wasn’t on Susan’s bucket list growing up.

Susan’s career took off while married to Chris.

A family she never expected

It wasn’t until she met her future husband, drama student Chris Sarandon, in her first year at university that life took an unexpected turn. Chris’ agent saw something in her and insisted on signing Susan too. Before long, her unintended acting career far outstripped his. The pair amicably divorced in 1979, by which time Susan’s Hollywood career was skyrocketing – but one thing she never thought was within her reach was a family of her own.

Doctors had diagnosed her with endometriosis and told her she would not be able to conceive. She was shocked, therefore, to discover at the age of 38 she was expecting a baby with Italian director Franco Amurri, who was 12 years her junior.

Daughter Eva Amurri, now 41, arrived in 1985 and in 1988, after her relationship with Franco ended, Susan began a long relationship with actor Tim Robbins, with whom she shares two sons, filmmaker Jack, 37, and actor Miles, 34.

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A flashback of family life with Tim and kids (from left) Eva, Miles and Jack.

Life after Tim

Susan often took the kids out of school to be with her on set, once astonishing talk-show host David Letterman by announcing they would do so “until they’re old enough to give a really articulate explanation of why they shouldn’t”.

She later added, “I wish I’d dragged them around more, even to demonstrations. I think if you’re raising privileged kids, it’s important that they understand at least
that they are privileged.”

She split from Tim, 67, in 2009, but they remain on good terms and she doesn’t rule out working with him again if the right project came along.

She laughs, “Imagine if people in Hollywood didn’t work with the people they slept with…”

Despite entering her ninth decade, her career is still going strong. This year, she’s starring in two movies, The Echo Chamber with Alicia Vikander and The Accompanist, in which she plays an elderly woman who becomes an unlikely foster parent to an eight-year-old girl. And while she hasn’t given up on love, Susan has certain boxes that need ticking.

“It has to be somebody who has curiosity, a sense of humour, intelligence and an appetite for life.”