Jessica Lange says she feels her acting career is ‘coming to an end’
SAVANNAH, GEORGIA – OCTOBER 25: Jessica Lange attends the signature screening of “Long Day’s Journey Into Night” and Award Presentation at Day 2 of the 29th SCAD Savannah Film Festival on October 25, (Getty Images)
Jessica Lange has suggested she may retire from acting soon, saying she feels her career is nearing its end and that it has become harder to get the kinds of films she wants made.
In a newly published Rolling Stone interview, the 77-year-old said: “I actually feel like I’m coming to an end.”
Lange, an Oscar-winning actor and American Horror Story star, has spent decades moving between film, theatre and television, building a reputation for intense, character-driven performances. She became a modern pop-culture fixture through Ryan Murphy’s American Horror Story anthology, with several of her characters turning into meme and quote staples.
Why Lange says the films she wants are harder to make
Lange said she still has ideas she would like to pursue, but sounded unconvinced they will happen.
“There are a couple projects that have been in the works forever that may or may not happen. I don’t know. It doesn’t seem easy to get things made anymore. At least not the kind of films that interest me,” she said.
She also reflected on how sets have changed over the years, arguing that directors can feel less present during filming. “Oftentimes, you don’t even see the director on the set, which I think is very detrimental,” Lange said.
Could Long Day’s Journey Into Night be her final film?
Lange has returned to screens this year with Long Day’s Journey Into Night and American Horror Story season 13, but suggested her latest film role could be a fitting final chapter.
“Maybe it’s not a bad way to end, that last film being Long Day’s Journey Into Night and playing Mary Tyrone,” she said.
The film adaptation of Eugene O’Neill’s play was filmed in 2022, was directed by Jonathan Kent, and hit theatres on 25 September.
When asked what she would like her legacy to be, Lange said: “For some good parts. For some good films. For being an honest actor.”
Last month, Lange also drew attention after criticising FX for being “too f***ing cheap” to provide American Horror Story stars with cars home after night shoots, saying the cast had to drive themselves back at “like 4 or 5 in the morning”.
