Joely Richardson would "love" to grow old "gracefully"

The 47-year-old actress - whose sister Natasha died in a skiing accident in 2009 followed by the brother and sister of her mother, Corin and Lynn Redgrave, who died within weeks of each other - realises growing old is not a formality so she cherishes each day.

She said: "People always say, `I want to grow old gracefully`. And I say, `Yeah, in my dreams, in my highest aspirations, I would love to grow old gracefully.

"But the fact is, you don`t have the choice. You can get Alzheimer`s, you can get anything, we might not be given the choice to age gracefully."

Joely - who portrayed Julia McNamara in `Nip/Tuck` for seven years - is grateful for each year she lives and admits she is "proud" to be 47.

In an interview with The Independent newspaper, she added: "We can`t afford to be down on our age. We have got to be proud of every single year. We all get to be young, we all get to be middle-aged and some of us get to be old.

"Some people peak at 20, others at 50. Thank God beauty is in the eye of a beholder."

sections: Celebrities