June Squibb is making her first-ever starring role in a feature film with the release of the action-comedy Thelma in a moment 94 years in the making.
It’s quite the milestone considering she’s 94-years-old and has been acting since 1948, which translates to 76 years in the business, although there were gaps of inactivity over the years.
Squibb, who has mainly been a character actor in supporting roles, plays Thelma Post in her jump to the top of the marquee in the film which was released on Friday.
‘I always loved what I was doing,’ she told Vulture about playing supporting roles. ‘I just wanted to work. And I think it’s true that as you work, the more you work — not always but most of the time — the roles do get bigger.’
At 94-years-old, June Squibb is making her first-ever starring role in a feature film with the release of the new action-comedy Thelma on Friday, June 21
Squibb stars as Thelma Post, a iron-willed grandmother seeking revenge after she gets swindled out of $10,000 by a scam caller posing as her grandson, with the help of a friend Ben, played by Richard Roundtree, who gets around with a scooter
In the movie, the Vandalia, Illinois native plays a grandmother seeking revenge after she gets swindled out of $10,000 by a scam caller posing as her grandson.
With the help of a friend Ben (Richard Roundtree), who travels around on an electric scooter, the iron-willed senior citizen attempts to quench her thirst for vengeance and recover her stolen funds.
Along with Squibb and Roundtree, the cast also features the cast features Fred Hechinger, Parker Posey, Clark Gregg and Malcolm McDowell, among others.
Her role in the film, which was written and directed by Josh Margolin, required a lot of physically demanding movements and stunts. But in the end she remained committed to doing all of her own stunts throughout the production.
It turns out Squibb was Margolin’s first choice to play Thelma, according to USA Today.
‘She’s great at using the kind of sweetie-pie presentation as a weapon,’ the filmmaker said. ‘It’s a wonderful role,’ Squibb chimed in to the conversation.
In the end, the actress only had to read the script once through before she realized she was perfect for the part.
In the movie, the Vandalia, Illinois native plays a grandmother seeking revenge after she gets swindled out of $10,000 by a scam caller posing as her grandson
‘I always loved what I was doing,’ the actress told Vulture about playing supporting roles over the many decades. ‘I just wanted to work. And I think it’s true that as you work, the more you work — not always but most of the time — the roles do get bigger.’
The leading lady literally and figuratively took center stage at the premiere of Thelma at the Egyptian Theatre Hollywood on June 14
Squibb talked about how she was able to pull off all of the physically demanding movements and stunts throughout the production
While she began acting in the late 1940s as a teenager, Squibb didn’t make her professional debut until she landed a part in the Broadway production of the musical Gypsy (1959)a after moving from Cleveland to New York City in 1951.
During that time she took up various part-time jobs she could find to help pay the bills, such as a Santa’s helper at Lord & Taylor during the Christmas season. She also modeled for magazines and book covers.
Once she was able to join the Screen Actors Guild in 1985, she began to steadily get roles in both film and television.
More than two decades had passed until she finally made her onscreen debuts, appearing in an episode of the anthology series CBS Schoolbreak Special (1985) for TV and in the Woody Allen romantic comedy Alice (1990) for film.
Some of her most notable supporting roles include the films The Age Of Innocence (1993), In & Out (1997), Meet Joe Black (1998), About Schmidt (2002), and Far From Heaven (2002).
Squibb got her start in local theater in the late 1940s when she was in her twenties, ultimately making her professional debut on Broadway in the musical Gypsy (1958); the actress didn’t make her debut in TV until 1985 and in film in 1990
She went on to have a huge breakthrough performance in the comedy-drama film Nebraska (2013), alongside Bruce Dern and Will Forte, earning her an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress.
Over the course of the last decade she’s appeared in such films as I’ll See You In My Dreams (2015), Love the Coopers (2015), Other People (2016), Father Figures (2017) (2017), Blow The Man Down (2019), Palm Springs (2020), Hubie Halloween, Palmer (2021), The Humans (2021), and Family Squares (2022).
‘My career certainly has been rewarding,’ Squibb confessed to USA Today. ‘I’m not naïve: I know it’s unusual to be 94 and still working; to still be doing anything, let alone this job! And I’m pleased that I can do what I do physically, and that my health is good.’
After making its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on January 18, Thelma made its premiere in theaters in the U.S. on Friday, June 21.