Rachel Ward, the 68-year-old star of the 1980s miniseries The Thorn Birds, has hit back at online trolls who criticised her for sharing a no-makeup selfie. The actress, who now lives on a cattle farm in the Australian Outback, said she 'couldn't care less' about the negative comments, which included remarks such as 'What happened to you, dear God?' and 'She looks ravaged.'
In an exclusive interview with the Daily Mail, Ward said the backlash had 'touched a nerve' and sparked a necessary conversation about ageing. 'Women fear being judged and criticised for ageing naturally,' she said. 'They feel they have to hang on to their youth and are resorting to rather drastic ways of doing it. But let it go! And much bounty will come from it.'
Ward, who has been married to Australian actor Bryan Brown for more than 40 years, said she stopped dyeing her hair just before Christmas and now sports a grey pixie cut, trimmed by her daughter Matilda with nail scissors. 'Bryan didn't want me to go grey,' she said. 'But I said, "I just can't be bothered to go to the hairdressers any more." I'm not in the entertainment industry. I don't have to look good on camera any more. It's liberating going grey.'
The actress, who has three grown-up children and three grandchildren, dismissed the trolls as part of online life. 'If you expose yourself online, you have to expect it, don't you?' she said. 'There's a hypocrisy about it. You're damned if you do and damned if you don't.' She added that she has no criticism of those who choose cosmetic treatments, but said she 'just can't be bothered'.
Ward also thanked the thousands of Daily Mail readers who defended her, saying she had received an 'absolute tsunami of lovely comments'. In a subsequent social media post, she wrote: 'Do not fear ageing... later years are to be exalted and welcomed. You wait until you get there!'
