The Sopranosstar Lorraine Bracco has said stopping to colour her grey hair has made a huge difference to her life.
Bracco, 70, stopped dyeing her hair during the pandemic and just never went back.
“Honestly, I stopped colouring it during Covid, and I had no idea what it was going to look like,” the Goodfellasactor told Yahoo Life. “So, coming out of Covid – and the half dark, half gray, half whatever it was – I think I was pretty lucky. People stop me in the street and ask me who colours it, and I say, ‘The guy upstairs.’”
Bracco stars in the Netflix film Nonnas, alongside Vince Vaughn, Susan Sarandon, Talia Shire, and Linda Cardellini.
Based on the life of Joe Scaravella, owner of the Staten Island restaurant Enoteca Maria, the film follows a man who risks everything to honour his recently deceased mother by opening an Italian restaurant with actual grandmothers as chefs.
Asked if it had been hard to get roles since she chose to go grey, Bracco said it hadn’t. “So far, no. I always tell my agent to remind these people I have gray hair. I’m no longer a brunette and people have been very accepting to it. And it worked for Nonnas,” she said.
“I feel like I have a lot of hours back. There’s two things I did since Covid that really made a difference for me. One, I don’t have to go to the salon every three weeks. Two, I have an electric car, so I don’t have to go to the gas station.”
Bracco said she made a deal with herself at 50 to “have more fun” and has chosen to live healthier since then.
“Listen – I feel good. I wake up every morning. I’m grateful to wake up. I’m happy. I’m healthy. I think that’s a really big part of it. Being healthy is really my No 1 goal to attain every day. I try to walk every day. I try to get those steps in. It’s not always easy. I try to sleep. I try to eat [healthy]. I take care of myself.”
With several actors like Bracco, Helen Mirren, Andie MacDowell, and Salma Hayek embracing their salt and pepper hair, the look has become more popular.
Doctors have listed several reasons for going grey, from stress to genetics to health issues like vitamin B12 deficiency, pernicious anaemia and thyroid disorders.
