Legendary screen actress Noni Hazlehurst says the great thing about being in her sixties is that she doesn’t care so much what other people think.
Although, while it may feel liberating, Noni admits her carefree stance has been a long time coming.
“It’s taken too long! As a female brought up in the ’50s and ’60s, my mother always said, ‘Wear a nice dress and be nice and you’ll get on in life’,” the 63-year-old tells Reinvention editor Deborah Hutton.
“That’s not true. It’s taking away your power.”
She goes on to express her concern at the focus on aesthetic that’s plaguing the young women of today.
“What worries me is that we are going backwards and young girls are going for nose jobs and boob jobs,” she says, adding that she believes the world would be a better place without mirrors.
WATCH Noni chat to Deborah Hutton in the video player below.
As she looks back on an extensive career, Noni reveals the best thing about ageing is her “library of memories”.
“You can reflect on so many things as an older person. Your stories are richer.”
Retirement is a concept she deems irrelevant, and will therefore continue to tell her stories. “I don’t care if that’s in front of the camera, behind the camera, on radio – I don’t care what the medium is.”
“I love talking to people and I love sharing, and my bottom line is we share more similarities than differences.”
Speaking out on one of the greatest messages she’s passed on to her two boys, Noni admits she liked to remind her now grown-up sons that they’re not special.
“I always tell them ‘You are not special; you’re unique but you’re not special. Because if you’re special then someone else isn’t.’”
Noni is best known for her 20-year reign on beloved kids’ show Play School.
