Happy and Healed
Kelly
McGillis
True Self
To play a nun raped
by bloodsuckers in this
year’s vampire flick
Stake Land, Kelly
McGillis says, she didn’t
descend into an emo-
tional pit. “It was act-
ing—and it was fun!”
CLOCKWISE, FROM TOP LEFT: MATT CARR/GETTY IMAGES; COURTESY OF FARM AID; JAMIE MCCARTHY/
WIREIMAGE/GE T T Y IMAGES; FRAZER HARRISON/GE T T Y IMAGES; PE TER CADE/CEN TRAL PRESS/GE T T Y IMAGES
In reality, the actress,
54, has battled her own
inner demons. McGillis
played strong, sexy
roles in Top Gun and
The Accused but was
privately on a down-
ward spiral of addic-
tions and two broken
marriages. She traces
her turmoil to an early
assault—and 30 years
of veiling her true sexu-
ality. “I finally got tired
of hiding,” says McGillis,
who last year wed
Melanie Leis in a New
Jersey civil ceremony.
“Now I’m content.”
Eager to share that
contentment, she re-
cently began working
with substance abus-
ers. “I tell them what I
went through. My life is
my experience.”
—Natasha Stoynoff
THE Media METER
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AWESOME
On the Road Again
Willie Nelson
Fighting for Family Farmers
Kim Cattrall
Of her most
recent role, in
Meet Monica
Velour, in which
she plays a
washed-up porn
star, the actress,
55, said: “I am an
older woman
who has a right
to my sexuality
at any age; it’s
my choice.”
When Willie Nelson organized Farm Aid
in 1985, he never imagined it would become
America’s longest-running benefit-concert
series. “I thought we’d do one or two concerts
and everybody would give the farmers more
money and encourage young people to get out
on the land,” says Nelson, 78, who appears
onstage with Farm Aid board members Neil
Young, John Mellencamp, and Dave Matthews
on August 13 in Kansas City.
Though Farm Aid has raised $37 million to
date, Nelson says it’s more important than ever
to support local farms. But don’t look for him
to reprise his own agricultural career. “I lost a
small fortune raising pigs,” he says. “Bought 17
little weaners at 27 cents a pound, raised them
for five months, and wound up selling them for
17 cents a pound. You can see why I have more
fun out on the road.” —Alanna Nash
Disney
AGEIS T
Nothing against
Jennifer Garner,
at right, but why
is the studio cast-
ing a 39-year-old
sex symbol as
the seasoned
amateur detec-
tive Miss Marple
in its upcoming
big-screen reboot
of the Agatha
Christie series?
AARP.ORG/MAGAZINE 17
