She’s spent practically 5 a long time being acknowledged because the “Beauty School Dropout,” and there’s a sweet irony in that, because at 74, Didi Conn looks like she never left class. Recently, the star teamed up with Laura Geller to launch a new product, Laura Geller Full Root-Ine Hair & Brow Concealing Cream & Powder ($34), with a nostalgic commercial nodding to her Grease roots.
We caught up with the eternally radiant actress to talk beauty, hormones, aging gracefully and behind-the-scenes Grease moments that lit my fangirl heart on fire.
You look amazing. I’d love to hear a bit about your skin care and makeup routine. How has it shifted in your 70s?
“Effectively, you realize, I used to be blessed with my mother’s pores and skin, so make-up was by no means a giant factor. Simply mascara, a little bit liner, some blush, a little bit lip, that was actually it. Laura Geller’s merchandise are made for older individuals on objective, as a result of they do not cake into your face. The Spackle Primer ($38) is superb, and so is the inspiration with SPF 50 ($38). No one has a 50 SPF in a basis. As you realize, local weather warming has occurred, so you have to actually watch out, particularly if you become old. I have been utilizing Laura Geller’s merchandise and everybody I do know makes use of her merchandise.
Additionally, I’ve to say that a few 12 months and a half in the past, I had uterine most cancers and had a hysterectomy, and you realize, when you do not have the feminine hormones taking place, pores and skin dries out and also you want extra TLC, and I name it LGC, Laura Geller Care. It is true as a result of you’ll be able to put her blush on and it does not cake in any respect. It is nice. So I’ve discovered, even within the final two years, how necessary it’s to have one thing that moisturizes you.”
Tell me about the new launch you partnered with Laura Geller on?
“I like the Full Root-Ine Hair & Forehead Concealing Cream & Powder! There are such a lot of instances as an actress when rapidly you must go and meet someone or go on digital camera and it is in between if you’ve had your dye job and this is very easy. It is like a little bit magic wand. It has this cream on one aspect and a little bit powder, if you wish to set it, and the powder truly offers a little bit fullness to the hair. It has totally different colours. I adore it.
It turns out to be useful if you did not count on to be going out to dinner and you have not seen your folks in a very long time and there is a large white or grey spot and then you definitely apply it and you are feeling higher. In between these salon appointments, it is nice to have a pal which you could go to to simply improve who you’re.”
Courtesy of Laura GellerYour breakout function was Frenchy in Grease. Do you will have any enjoyable behind-the-scenes magnificence tales?
“Well, two things just popped into my mind. One thing was with Olivia [Newton-John], God bless my dear friend. The drive-in scene was an all-night shoot. They had done earlier the part where she throws the ring at him and leaves the car, and so we were all hanging out, doing our part, and all of a sudden somebody comes on, walks in front of all the guys. The guys go, ‘Who the heck is that? Who’s that?’ It was Olivia. She had gotten all made up as the hot Sandy. Nobody recognized her. So that was a testament to her makeup and hair people and wardrobe, because they had to literally sew her into that.
As far as my hair and makeup, well, I have olive skin, and this is before punk. Nobody had pink hair. Nobody had pink hair, unless you were a clown, so they had to try different colors of pink with my skin, and then they had to change my makeup, and my makeup was great. Then they had to combine the makeup and the pink-colored wig with lighting. It was like a half a day test of all these different colors.
The day we were filming, I got all of the hair and that outfit, looked in the mirror and I almost died. I mean, I looked so goofy. We didn’t get any shots before lunch—and you’re supposed to take off your costume for lunch—but I snuck off Paramount lot and drove to Mr. Pardo’s [Conn’s acting coach] house, went upstairs to his office and he looked at me. He said, ‘Didi, anything we planned for you to do, don’t do. Don’t do anything. Just look at the guy, there’s enough with the way you look.’ It was great advice because when Frankie Avalon was coming down those steps, and he was so cute, I didn’t have to do anything. He was doing it all.
I hated that blond wig, if you want to know the truth. I didn’t like that blond dress. I didn’t even see it until that morning, but again, with makeup, we had to change to go with the yellow. In fact, they wanted me to have greenish-blue hair in the carnival scene. Next time you see the movie, there’s a vat of cotton candy, and it was supposed to be my hand, and I lift up the cotton candy, and the principal comes up asking ‘What happened?’ And they wanted my hair to match the cotton candy. I started crying, so I didn’t do it, but that was what they wanted. I thought the pink was enough of a pop.”
More recently, I loved seeing you on my screen in Overcompensating last year. What was that experience like?
“I love that show. Isn’t he sweet? Isn’t he gorgeous? [Benito Skinner] So what happened was I got this thing and said, ‘Oh, come on, they’re going to get a little old lady, and she’ll curse, and it’ll be funny.’ I never curse, I’ve never cursed in anything I’ve been in, and so I just went for it because the show’s called Overcompensating, and I wasn’t going to overcompensate and try to be the good girl. It was fun. I had the best time, and now it’s been picked up, so I hope I’ll be back again. I have two brothers who have little kids; they wouldn’t show it to them.”
What does magnificence imply to you at this age versus if you have been younger and beginning out in Hollywood?
“I’ve always been an actress first. I’ve been a character actress and never really thought too much about glamour or beauty in that way. I mean, I learned how to do basics like we talked about, but I think as I got older, you know, one can get very self-conscious about how you look and the wrinkles, I mean, I’m still not quite used to it, and as I said, having the hysterectomy changed my estrogen in a way that you know, wrinkled up. I go to my heart and gratitude, honestly, look at how fun this is to be talking to you about a product that is very useful.”
