At a point in life when many people are slowing down, June Squibb is doing anything but. The beloved actress, whose career spans decades across stage and screen, is currently balancing her Broadway performance in Marjorie Prime with buzzy film work, including Eleanor the Great, a powerful project now streaming on Netflix.
For Squibb, the film was special from the moment it landed in her hands.
“I loved the script when I first got it,” she says. “It was a joy to shoot.” Set and filmed entirely in New York City—a place Squibb called home for 65 years before moving to Los Angeles—the experience felt like a homecoming. “It’s always good to be back in New York. I enjoy it. We shot everything right here, and we were very well taken care of.”
The project also marked her first time working with the film’s director, the one-and-only Scarlett Johansson, a collaboration that quickly turned into something more meaningful. “We really hit it off,” Squibb says. “We liked each other so much, and we’ve maintained our relationship, which you don’t always do after a film.”
Surrounded by a cast that included Erin Kellyman, Jessica Hecht and Rita Zohar, Squibb describes the set as one of those rare experiences where everything clicks. “It was just a really great cast,” she says. “Those don’t come along every day.”
When she’s not on screen, Squibb is back where she began: the stage. Returning to Broadway in a lead role was a deliberate choice—and one she’s deeply grateful she made.
“It’s fun, but it’s tiring,” she admits with a laugh. “It’s much more tiring than filming. You don’t do anything maybe all morning, but then when you’re there, you’re constantly working. You don’t get any time off at all.”
Still, the fatigue is outweighed by the joy. “I loved working on stage my whole life, and I hadn’t been doing it recently,” she says. “It’s just been wonderful. I’ve enjoyed being with a cast and seeing them every day. It’s very positive. I feel very positive about doing the show.”
So how does she sustain the energy required for eight shows a week—especially during a notoriously frigid New York winter?
“I rest,” she says, without hesitation. During rehearsals, she found herself sleeping as much as 12 hours a night. “I just had to have a lot of rest.”
Now settled into the rhythm of performances, she averages around nine hours of sleep and listens closely to what her body needs. “I think you get your body used to it, and it just gets easier, but I do try to go to bed by 9 every night.”
Evenings are intentionally low-key. After a show, Squibb keeps things simple: a cup of tea, a few pretzels or Japanese mochi ice cream—“little things like that.” To wind down, she reads or works on crossword puzzles or Sudoku, which she considers calming rituals. “Nothing too stimulating,” she says.
When it comes to beauty, Squibb’s approach is practical, as well as modern. One product she gives all the rave reviews to: Selena Gomez’s Rare Beauty foundation.
“I hate a heavy base,” she says. “As I’ve gotten older, it’s just not good. A heavy base is not good.” Introduced to it by a makeup artist during her stage work, the lightweight foundation quickly became a staple. “It really answers my problem,” she explains. “I use it when I go out on my own, and I use it every night on stage. It is really a great product.”
Her philosophy is simple: makeup should enhance, not mask. “I really stand by that one,” she says.
After a career defined by longevity and range, Squibb’s advice to her younger self, and to anyone starting out—is both honest and hard-won.
“Be yourself,” she says. “That’s hard to do. But you have to learn that who you are is enough—in life and in acting. That’s where it all is going to happen.”
Trying to fit a mold, she believes, only pulls you further from your power. “It’s not about pretending to be somebody else or thinking, ‘I have to be this’ or ‘I have to be that.’ You have to find yourself and let people see that.”