Naomi Watts sighs when she remembers how menopause was portrayed in movies when she was a child.
It was all jokes about hot flashes and emotional, hormonal women.
No one talked about it much at the time, so the only place she learned about her midlife moment was on the big screen. Those scenes shaped her outlook so much that she didn’t even realize that many of her symptoms, from dry eyes to frozen shoulders, were signs that menopause was approaching.
Watts, now 57, wants to change that narrative.
Podcasters, creators, comedians, and writers are taking the conversation about menopause from taboo to mainstream. And Hollywood producers need to follow suit, Watts says. She promotes further narratives that redefine midlife as a period of strength rather than decline.
“We need to represent ourselves,” she told USA TODAY. “Talking about menopause and showing our stories on film helps women feel less alone. It’s about removing shame and stigma, and that’s important through storytelling of all kinds.”
Fear that menopause will end her career
Not long after Watts filmed King Kong in 2005 (which landed her on Forbes’ list of highest-paid actresses), she went to see a doctor about the birth of her first child.
She was in her late 30s and her doctor told her she was perimenopausal. she was shocked. After struggling to conceive and suffering a miscarriage, Watts had two children, one year apart. Then her menopausal symptoms started.
“I was lonely and scared,” she recalls.
Growing up in an era when women had dual roles as romantic protagonists and grandmothers, Watts kept her menopause to herself. She feared that speaking publicly about it would end her career.
It took her more than a decade to tell her story about menopause, making her one of the first celebrities to share it widely. Many others have followed suit, from Drew Barrymore, who revealed she was experiencing hot flashes during a talk show interview in 2023, to Halle Berry, who joined U.S. senators on Capitol Hill last year to call for more funding for menopause research and education.
Watts co-founded Stripes, a menopausal beauty and wellness brand, in 2022. The company sells everything from vitamins to vaginal creams. Her book, Dare I Say: Everything You Need to Know About Menopause, which combines funny and relatable stories with expert advice, was published in 2025 (it will be available in paperback in February).
“I don’t want to be told that I should quit,” she says. “There’s still so much I want to say and do.”
Will menopause have a cinematic moment?
Has there ever been a movie in the past decade that featured a menopause storyline?
Watts says that’s hard to think about.
Well, what about TV?
There’s a sitcom called LeeAnne by comedian LeeAnne Morgan. And, uh, great moments from “Fleabag” (back six years ago) and references to Watts’ “All’s Fair” courtroom drama, released this fall with a cast of actors over 40, including 78-year-old Glenn Close. Sarah Paulson, 51 years old. Niecy Nash, 55 years old. and Kim Kardashian (45).
Menopause is almost invisible on screen. A study conducted by the Geena Davis Institute in December 2025 found that of 225 movies released between 2009 and 2024 starring female characters over the age of 40, only 6% (14) mentioned menopause.
One of them features menopause as a recurring storyline. In “Sex and the City 2,” Kim Cattrall’s character navigates menopause and hormone therapy.
Most people use menopause as a comedic device, a joke to explain women’s mood swings.
“It’s okay to be funny. I’m not pooping on that,” Watts says with a laugh. “But it’s obviously much deeper and more complex. If you’re educated, it doesn’t all have to be doom and gloom.”
Menopause is more than just hot flashes
A study by the Geena Davis Institute found that two out of three people surveyed said it was important for menopause to be portrayed more realistically on screen.
“We’re more than just hot flashes,” says Madeline Di Nonno, president and CEO of the Geena Davis Institute. “Movies and television can have a direct impact on how women see themselves. We need to do better.”
According to a recent AARP survey, about 8 in 10 adults 18 and older say movies and television shape their views on aging. (Slightly more than half of those surveyed were under 50 years old.)
Research also shows that three in four adults over 50 are more likely to support movies and TV that feature characters their age. On January 10, the organization hosted a film award for adults to highlight the contributions of older actors to film.
Watts says the next generation, especially millennial women who are going through perimenopause, are ready for change.
For now, Watts is happy to see more older women succeed.
The second season of Jon Hamm and Amanda Peet’s Apple TV+ drama Your Friends and Neighbors follows Peete’s character as she navigates menopause. The season will premiere in April. And Riot Women, a BBC show about menopausal women who accidentally form a punk band, has been hailed as one of this year’s must-see shows.
Watts was pleased to see Demi Moore, 63, nominated for an Oscar in 2025 for “Substance” and Fernanda Torres, 60, for “I’m Still Here.”
She also appreciated seeing older women as love interests, such as Nicole Kidman in Baby Girl and Gwyneth Paltrow in Marty Supreme.
“When I look at the women around me, whether they’re actors, writers, producers, teachers, doctors, I’m really inspired by the incredible things they do into middle age,” she says. “Their stories should be reflected. Young women shouldn’t be the only ones on screen.”
Watts says that as she gets older, she becomes more selective about her projects.
She starred in the well-received 2024 film The Friend, about a middle-aged woman who takes care of a 150-pound Great Dane after her friend commits suicide. Watts will return for Season 2 of “All’s Fair.”
“People now stop me on the street and not only ask for a selfie, but also thank me for taking part in a shift that creates dialogue, so I feel safe enough to talk to my family, my boss, and my kids,” she says. “I feel like it made a lot of sense and it was definitely worth the risk.”
Laura Trujillo is a national columnist focused on health and wellness. She is the author of “Stepping Back from the Ledge: A Daughter’s Search for Truth and Renewal” and can be reached at ltrujillo@usatoday.com.
