Melissa Gilbert, 59, is coming to terms with the idea of getting older.
The Little House on the Prairie actress, best known for her role in the series, admits in a new interview that while she’s had plastic surgery and various cosmetic procedures in the past, she’s now given it up and is content to age on her own terms.
Reflecting on her time on Dancing With the Stars in 2012, she told People magazine: “I was approaching 50 and there was a panic of, ‘This is it. I have to get it done while I still can.'”
As a result, she admits she made some “bad choices,” namely certain cosmetic procedures.
“I was literally like a comedian carrot top. My hair was too red, and with Botox, I was Satan with pointy eyebrows,” she says. “I had no facial expressions, which was just disgusting, given my profession.”
“It was exhausting to maintain that facade. I was so insecure.”
That same year, she met her husband, Timothy Busfield, and with his encouragement, she decided to give up trying to look younger.
“I embraced it,” she says of the idea of growing older. “When I said, ‘I think I’m not going to dye my hair anymore,’ he said, ‘Can’t wait to see what color it is. So exciting!’ When I said, ‘I want to have my breast implants permanently removed,’ he said, ‘Go ahead!’”
“It meant so much to me when I went home and someone saw me in my gym clothes, no makeup, my hair in a ponytail, and said, ‘Oh, you’re so beautiful!’ instead of someone saying, ‘I think you could lose a little more weight,’ or, ‘I’m a little concerned about the wrinkles around your eyes.’ I’ve definitely been there before.”
Now, a decade after marrying Busfield, she says she’s in a very different place than when she met him.
“I don’t dye my hair anymore,” she told People. “I don’t get fillers or Botox in my face anymore. I try to take care of myself, but I am who I am. I’m not going to sacrifice my happiness because of what other people expect me to be.”
Because of her role as Laura “Half-Pint” Ingalls on Little House on the Prairie, she says, “someone will always think I’m 12, and I’ll always be that curious girl running around in the fields. Half-Pint will always be in my heart. But we’re all getting older.”
“I don’t want to be any younger,” she insists. “I don’t want to learn that again. I like where I am now. I’m happy with myself and I’m happy with my life.”
Gilbert acknowledged that some women her age in Hollywood “are still wearing size 2s or size 0s,” but explained: “That’s not how my life is now. It’s attainable, but it’s fleeting. You have to keep at it. That was how I was in my 20s, and I don’t have the financial resources to do that anymore.”
“If that’s what you want to do with your time, great. I’d rather be in the sandbox playing with my grandchildren.”
Gilbert has one son with her ex-husband, Beau Brinkman, and one with her second husband, Bruce Boxleitner. Busfield has three children from her first marriage, and the couple has eight grandchildren.
Last year, she expressed a similar desire for a simpler, more family-centered life in an interview with Fox News Digital.
“Our life has become very, very simple,” she said of her and Busfield’s move to a rustic cabin in New York’s Catskill Mountains. “There is a sweetness in the simplicity of our lives now. With that simplicity comes a real love of stillness and living in stillness. It means not fighting the natural process anymore. Fighting the natural process of aging is the opposite of stillness.”
“It’s an uphill battle. Eventually, everyone loses. It’s simply not in line with who I am and what I’m doing. It’s exhausting and it’s not necessary.”
When asked about the concept of slow living, Gilbert responded, “I don’t know if it’s similar to slow food or slow cooking, which is the opposite of fast food. So, enjoy life, savor everything, take your time, and really be mindful and aware of each passing moment.”
“If that’s what we’re talking about, it’s about disconnecting, not feeling like everything is a competition, not always trying to keep up with everyone else. If that’s what slow living is, then that’s what I’m doing. I’m totally on board with that lifestyle. It’s changed my life.”
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