June Squibb

The Refuge of the New York Stage

June Squibb turned ninety-four before making her first leading role in film. It was in 2024 with the movie Thelma. In that production by Josh Margolin, the actress chose to perform her own stunts on an electric scooter through the streets of Los Angeles. And she did most of them without stunt doubles.

The industry took decades to look her way.

In 1959, she made her Broadway debut in the musical Gypsy. That experience alongside Ethel Merman laid the foundation for a craft Squibb practiced quietly for nearly half a century. But her name didn't appear in the credits of major Hollywood productions, because her priority was New York theater and regional stages.

Her film career started late and without much fanfare. In 1990, Woody Allen cast her in a supporting role in Alice when she was already past sixty. From then on, she began landing short roles in films such as Scent of a Woman in 1992 and In & Out in 1997. But the real turning point came when Alexander Payne chose her to play the wife of Jack Nicholson in About Schmidt in 2002.

The Late Blooming Breakout in Nebraska

Director Alexander Payne got back in touch with her in 2013 for the project Nebraska. Squibb played Kate Grant, a sharp-tongued woman who visits the family cemetery and lifts her skirt in front of a grave. The role earned her an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress at an age when most of her generation had already retired.

Mass recognition didn't come until she was eighty-four.

That character broke with the sweet image of the traditional movie grandmother. Squibb gave Kate a verbal sharpness and a candor that critics around the world found refreshing. And the gamble paid off. After the Academy Awards ceremony, her phone began ringing non-stop with offers for television and independent films.

In 2020, she appeared in the time-loop comedy Palm Springs. There, she played Nana Schlieffen and proved that her screen time didn't depend on how many lines she had, but on the precision of her body language. Yet Squibb never left television and appeared in shows like Shameless and The Big Bang Theory during those same years.

The Voice of Nostalgia at Pixar

Voice work also takes up a significant part of her professional schedule. In 2024, she lent her voice to the character Nostalgia in the Pixar production Inside Out 2. The film was designed to explore the complex emotions of adolescence, and Squibb's addition brought a touch of veteran presence to the original cast.

And the gamble paid off.

The actress keeps a work routine that ignores the usual retirement conventions in the entertainment industry. In 2024, she also worked on Eleanor the Great under the direction of Scarlett Johansson. Squibb leads the cast as a 90-year-old woman who decides to rebuild her life in New York City after a personal loss.

The production budget of Inside Out 2 exceeded 200 million dollars before its global release.