Stockard Channing delighted fans with an incredibly rare red carpet appearance on Wednesday, looking fabulous at 82 as she reunited with her Practical Magic co-stars.
The Grease icon attended the European premiere of Practical Magic 2 at London’s Odeon Luxe Leicester Square on August 26, marking her first red carpet appearance in two years.
Stockard looked effortlessly chic in an oversized navy trouser suit worn over an ivory blouse, accessorising with statement silver jewellery and a large turquoise cocktail ring.
Her famous brunette locks were styled in voluminous waves around her face, while she opted for glowing makeup and a glossy pink lip. The actress was also photographed alongside Dianne Wiest, 78, who reprises her role as Bridget “Jet” Owens in the eagerly anticipated sequel.
It was a particularly special evening for fans of the original 1998 movie, with Stockard and Dianne joining Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman for the reunion, alongside newcomers Joey King, Maisie Williams, Lee Pace, Xolo Maridueña and Solly McLeod.
Stockard Channing’s life away from Hollywood
Stockard’s appearance is all the more surprising given that just weeks ago, the famously private star revealed she has embraced a very different existence away from the Hollywood spotlight.
The actress, who became one of the most recognisable faces of the late 1970s after playing Betty Rizzo in Grease, has lived in London since 2019 and recently described herself as a “recluse”.
© Getty Images“I’ve lived alone since I lost Daniel and I’m happy being a recluse,” she wrote in a candid essay for The Sunday Times earlier this month.
Stockard was referring to her longtime partner, cinematographer Daniel Gillham, whom she met while making the 1988 film A Time of Destiny. The couple were together for more than two decades before his death in 2014.
His loss ultimately changed the course of her life. “It was more devastating than I realized,” Stockard admitted, explaining that her grief had “a lag effect”.
© Getty ImagesThe pair had shared a sprawling property on Georgetown Island in Maine, but after Daniel’s death, Stockard found the life they had created there no longer felt the same.
“The pattern of my life shifted, so I shifted my life from Maine,” she explained. She eventually relocated across the Atlantic shortly before the pandemic, settling permanently in London.
© Alan Chapman/Dave Benett/WireImaWhy Stockard Channing left America
Her personal loss wasn’t the only factor behind the dramatic move. Stockard revealed that the timing also “vaguely coincided” with the changing political landscape in America, something she has continued to speak candidly about since making Britain her home.
Far from disappearing completely, however, Stockard has quietly continued to work, simply choosing projects on her own terms.
Rather than maintaining the relentless film and television schedule that once saw her move between major Hollywood productions, she has increasingly gravitated towards theatre.
Since moving to the UK, she has appeared in productions including ‘night, Mother at Hampstead Theatre and Elektra alongside Brie Larson, while this year she has also been directing Samuel Beckett’s Krapp’s Last Tape.
And despite her self-described reclusive lifestyle, the actress appears content with the quieter world she has built for herself.
Stockard, who has been married four times and never had children, also admitted that she occasionally wonders what having a family of her own might have meant at this stage in her life.
“Children were thought about and, yeah, I think about them now because it’d be great to have someone taking care of me,” she said, before characteristically adding: “But hey, children can be just as selfish as everybody else out there.”
© CBS via Getty ImagesStockard Channing’s return to Practical Magic
Her decision to return for Practical Magic 2 is particularly poignant given how selectively she now works.
Stockard reprises her beloved role as Aunt Franny Owens, almost three decades after audiences first watched Franny and her sister Jet raise Sally and Gillian Owens, played by Sandra and Nicole.
It also reunites Stockard with some of the women she worked alongside on the original film 28 years ago, making Wednesday’s group photograph a rare full-circle moment.
The actress has previously acknowledged that she may retreat from the spotlight once again after completing her current projects, telling The Times of her future plans: “I’m not sure I’ll do anything after that.”
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