Laura Dern has "never seen more shame around ageing"

Speaking to The Independent, Laura shared: "Lately, I have never seen more shame around ageing and women as public figures, and it's just so tragic."

Laura is good friends with Sheryl Crow, and she's lavished praise on her showbiz pal, observing that the singer is "hotter than ever".

Laura said: "She's more bad*** than ever. She sounds better. She's hotter than ever! And yet, [we're still hearing] this old story of needing to hide, or fix all the stuff that shows our wisdom."

Laura is the daughter of actors Bruce Dern and Diane Ladd, and she's recalled overhearing conversations about women ageing in the movie business.

She shared: "It's so much worse now than for my mother's generation. I remember, when I was a child, hearing her friends talk about the pressure at 70 to get a facelift if you wanted to keep working.

"But now I'm hearing my 21-year-old daughter's friends say, 'You should get Botox now so that you're never wrinkled.'"

Laura also rubbished the idea of "preventative Botox", describing it as "tragic".

The Hollywood star - who has won a host of awards during her career, including an Academy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, and a BAFTA Award - explained: "The idea that we're advancing in empowerment is bat****. And these are societal norms that have been created, most of the time, from people's fears and insecurities. And it's all consumerism, right?

"It's like the tobacco industry saying smoking looks cool. Look at the Marlboro Man! They're just making money. They're saying we'll have a whole generation of girls buying our products if we say it's 'preventative'. But we're supposed to be the ones to not buy into it, right?"