June Squibb, badass actress, is making the rounds. Sunday night, she stepped onto the stage with Scarlett Johansson to announce the Best Makeup and Hairstyling winner during the live telecast of the 97th Oscars. Just recently, she celebrated her Film Independent Spirit Award. There never was a time when June Squibb wasn’t fascinated by the world of portraying roles. When anyone asks her, “When did you first want to be an actress?” she always answers, “Coming out of the womb!”

While her very first performance was in the first grade playing Goldilocks in “Goldilocks and the Three Bears,” at 95 years old, the spunky actress is still one of the hardest working performers in Hollywood. It’s no wonder she was thrilled to receive a nomination for Best Lead Performance at the 2025 Film Independent Spirit Awards, which took place last weekend in Santa Monica, California.

Her iconic role in “Thelma,” a fantastic comedy about a badass Jewish grandma who gets phone-scammed out of $10,000 and is determined to retrieve her money back, is well worth watching The movie is inspired by the real-life experience of writer/director Josh Margolin’s grandmother Thelma.

How June Squibb Proves That Age is But a Number

“Thelma” is the first leading role of Squibb’s 70-year career, despite having worked in theater, TV, and film since the early 1950s. She was nominated for a SAG Award, Golden Globe, and the Best Supporting Actress Oscar at the Academy Awards for her hilarious performance as the foul-mouthed, long-suffering Kate Grant in 2013’s “Nebraska” at age 84, and won the Film Independent Spirit Award at age 95.

“It’s a nice recognition that people like your work,” she told on the red carpet. “That’s always neat!”

During a press conference, she talked about how the real Thelma had a positive impact on her.

“She is incredible. I think what it taught me is when I found out about the real Thelma and knew that she was 103 and still living a full life, I thought, ‘Oh, my God, I’m a child, 90 is nothing.’ It gave me a lesson in tenaciousness, in just saying this is something I’m going to do and doing it. It’s as simple as that.”

The fearless Squibb doesn’t let much stop her, and still considers her brain to be as sharp as ever.

“I think I’m better mentally, I really do. I do Sudoku, I do crossword puzzles, I do any kind of puzzling I can get my hands on, actually,” she said. “And I read constantly. I think that I have a better understanding of what I’m reading than I ever did when I was younger. So I don’t know whether it’s just taking the time, which I probably didn’t do when I was younger, but certainly things that take your mind, they’re a joy to me now, and I love doing it.”

Squibb doesn’t overdo it either, and knows when to stop pushing herself. “I love resting, which I never thought I would say in my entire life!” she quipped. “I’ve always been a get up, do it, go after it, anything you want you can do. And now I love just resting, sitting, resting, watching TV, stopping for a while.”

Image: Etienne Laurent / The Academy

From Broadway to Hollywood–June Squibb’s Rise to Stardom

Squibb started her career on the stage, working first at the Cleveland Playhouse then moving on to New York. She appeared on Broadway, off-Broadway, off-off Broadway, in Regional Theatre, on cruise ships, and USO Tours around the world. Her first Broadway appearance was in the original 1960 production of the musical, “Gypsy,” starring Ethel Merman, where she played the role of stripper Electra and performed the classic number, “You Gotta Get a Gimmick.” The last June Squibb Broadway appearance was in “Waitress” in 2018.

In 1990 at age 61, Squibb made her film debut in “Alice,” directed by Woody Allen. This was followed by more June Squibb movies made in New York City—Martin Brest’s “Scent of a Woman” and “Meet Joe Black,” Martin Scorsese’s “Age of Innocence,” and “In and Out,” directed by Frank Oz. She also played Jack Nicholson’s wife in Alexander Payne’s “About Schmidt.”

Squibb is happy to see older actresses getting roles and hasn’t felt the impact of ageism in Hollywood. “I don’t think the age thing affected me because I started in film when I was in my 60s,” she said. “I had been doing theater for years, so I was already at an age where I wasn’t worrying if I was too old … I was always a character actor, too, and I certainly was never an ingénue—ever. It just wasn’t something that I dealt with.”

“When you look now at the films and the women who might be nominated in our award season, the leading ladies, they’re in their 50s, their 60s—that’s wonderful,” she added. “And they’re so good. They’re so beautiful. And they’ve kept themselves so great. I just think it’s so wonderful that we’re now doing this, that age doesn’t seem to be stopping actors … I think it’s because people are interested in age, that age is not the frightening thing that it once was.”

June Squibb Isn’t Slowing Down–More Hollywood Projects Coming

Squibb has great advice for PROVOKED by susan readers entering the third chapter of life. “If it’s something you want to do, then assume that you can do it. Don’t assume you can’t because that is what will stop you. So, it’s just a question of doing!”

And Squibb has lots of “doing” coming up. She recently shot the comedy feature “Lost and Found in Cleveland” and the anticipated remake of the cult classic, “Don’t Tell Mom the Babysitter’s Dead.”

“And next, I’m in Scarlett Johansson’s upcoming directorial feature debut, ‘Eleanor the Great.’ And I’m Eleanor!’ she enthused to PROVOKED by susan. “Just gotta keep going!”