Lifestyle

'HOW IRONIC'

Actress, 68, Responds to Accusations That She ‘Aged Really Bad’

The former model received negative comments after posting a makeup-free video.

Roosa RahkonenReporter, The Looker

PublishedMay 25, 2026, 7:53 PM EDT

UpdatedMay 25, 2026, 7:53 PM EDT

Updated May 25, 2026, 7:53 PM EDTPublished May 25, 2026, 7:53 PM EDT

Comments

A retired actress slams comments calling her “unrecognizable” at 68.

When British model and actress Rachel Ward posted a video of herself without makeup on Instagram, she began receiving messages about her “unrecognizable” appearance.

“Omg!! What the hell happened to her?” one comment read. “Wow!! She has aged really, really bad.”

On Saturday, Ward, who has posed on the covers of major magazines, including Vogue and Cosmopolitan, responded to these comments in an interview with ABC News.

“I’m so past caring about what people think about one’s appearance or age,” Ward told the outlet. “Why do we feel we’ve got to pretend that we’re still 40 when we’re 68?”

NO MORE MS. NEXT DOOR

Hugh Hefner’s Ex Hits Back at People Saying She Aged Poorly

Roosa Rahkonen

She now spends her days without makeup at the 350-hectare farm in Nambucca Valley, Australia, that she owns with her husband of over four decades, Australian actor Bryan Brown, 78.

The two, who share three children, met on the set of the highly successful American 1983 miniseries The Thorn Birds.

Ward recalled growing up with a father who taught her to put value on her looks.

“What do you need an education for? You are pretty enough to marry someone very rich,” her father told Ward.

Can I Get a Lift?

‘The View’ Host, 83, Shuts Down Facelift Rumors

Roosa Rahkonen

She first started to provide for herself as a model, but in 1982, Ward moved to Hollywood to switch her modeling career to one of an actress.

There, she was disappointed to discover how much women were sexualized.

“You were really not of any value unless it was your sexuality,” she recalled the days of her earlier career.

Now, she does not put value on looks, and shrugs off the mean comments.

“A few trolls were a bit shocked about my gray hair, who maybe hadn’t seen me since I was 24, and then went, ‘Oh my God, that’s what you end up looking like,’” she said.

'I said what I said'

Soap Star, 85, Responds to Rude Comments About Her Makeup

Roosa Rahkonen

Ward said she is shaking the old limitations for women, who “weren’t allowed to have a wrinkle, weren’t allowed to go grey, weren’t allowed to not care”.

“That whole harping … that we still have to be sexual beings is terrifying. To have to have our bums lifted and our breasts lifted and our faces drawn back. It just becomes grotesque," she said.

PLANT POWER

I’m 74, But This Face Peel Made Me Look Decades Younger

Roosa Rahkonen

“All I can say is that it’s great to put that behind you, how you should look and be.”

In January, Ward also posted on Instagram in response to negativity.

“In [my] sixties... I am more fulfilled than ever, and I have no regrets leaving my youth and beauty behind,” she said, adding, “Do not fear aging, it’s a wonderful period of life.”

REWINDING TIME

‘Real Housewives’ Star Shares Before-and-After Eye Lift Pics

Roosa Rahkonen

In the interview, she said that the two Instagram videos had brought her many new followers.

“How ironic that my going gray actually garnered me more attention than if I’d taken my top off,” Ward laughed.

Roosa RahkonenReporter, The Looker

Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast.