Nia Long is one of Hollywood’s most beautiful women and has held that title for decades. Her beauty has been admired by many and to this day she still gets mentioned in rap songs because of it. At 51, the actress continues to blow fans away with her gorgeous looks and noted the pressure that comes with it.
In an interview with PEOPLE, the Fatal Affair star got real about aging in Hollywood and being viewed as an “ageless” beauty. "I so appreciate the compliment but I have to tell you, there's so much pressure in this industry to stay beautiful and to stay young,” she said. “And I'm really not interested in leaning into this idea of perfection."
"I am a proud 51, and eventually I'm going to age in a way where it's obvious and I want it to happen beautifully and gracefully. I don't really want the pressure of feeling like I have to be beautiful and perfect because I think beauty comes at any age." While everyone ages, women have often been subjected to judgment if they don’t look a certain way or keep up with how society views them.
Even Nia found herself guilty of that when making public appearances. However, she embraces aging. In fact, the mother of two doesn’t even use anti-aging products on her skin. "I don't do anti-aging things, or use products because I think I look old or am trying to avoid aging," she said. "I use products to stay healthy and to keep healthy, vibrant skin. There's a difference."
Nia has shared her beauty secrets in the past. Back in 2020, a fan tweeted the Love Jones actress asking her to spill the deets behind her ageless looks and she playfully replied, “Lol! Water, sex and vitamins :)”
Lol! Water, sex and vitamins :) https://t.co/mcLg5h9GCI
— Nia Long (@NiaLong) July 18, 2020
Growing up in the entertainment industry, Nia has learned a lot and is no longer putting pressure on herself to fit an ideal image. "The business is very different now from when I was 20 years old," she said. "I don't even know that I was aware of the amount of pressure that I was putting on myself to be perfect. I don't know that I was able to articulate that as a young woman. And so what I know now is grace and patience and acceptance are much more interesting to me than perfectionism."
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Featured image by Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images