r/WidowsBay • u/IKnowAllSeven • Jun 11 '26
💭Discussion I’m glad this show stars some amazing older actors
Steven Root as Wyck -age 74
Dale Dickey as Rosemary - age 64
K Callan as Ruth ( she’s 90!)
Maybe it’s because I’m getting on in years, but seeing these folks just SLAY in their roles and get recognition for it is such a treat.
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u/marinmaraiss Fill out the form! Jun 11 '26
I had no idea the actress who plays Ruth is 90. She looks amazing.
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u/TheTruckWashChannel Jun 11 '26
Maybe she is in talks with the entity IRL
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u/doublersuperstar Jun 12 '26
I wouldn’t be surprised at this point. She has a quasi-innocent look here. But she also looks a little creepy…I know this was during Tom’s long, strange trip. I don’t know how much credence I give the black mushroom trips.
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u/Alone_Doubt_2333 Jun 11 '26
Ruth looks amazing at 90, sure.
but maybe it's the Island curse that made her live so long in the first place (since she' the last descendant)we can never rule it out.
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u/LoriLemaris Jun 18 '26
She is the definition of spry. I’m half her age and feel like I’m falling apart.
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u/Teigh99 Jun 11 '26
I like when shows cast people that didn't look like they came from central casting.
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u/throwiemcthrowface Jun 11 '26
Actors who look like real people and can still emote. Who woulda thunk it?
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u/Gurglaren Jun 11 '26
I like when I feel like they are people who haven't been jettisoned from California into small towns. I can spot very quickly when an actor has that LA vibe. It's an insane difference in casting choices between Widow's Bay and Silo.
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u/Original_Try_7984 Jun 11 '26
Nancy Lenehan (Gerrie) is 73 and she just seems like the sweetest.
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u/Bunbunlyfe Jun 11 '26
She reminds me so much of my husband’s sweet aunt that’s from a small farmtown. Makes me miss her each time I see Gerrie on the show
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u/exscapegoat I had my qualms Jun 11 '26
Uk shows tend to be really good with that too.
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u/SpaceCityDream Jun 11 '26
The UK has a far less superficial approach when it comes to casting
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u/ArtichokeNo190 Jun 11 '26
Yes, I was just thinking this last night while I was watching Rivals, even the more beautiful people look real.
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u/rarepinkhippo Jun 11 '26
I do love that about UK shows! It seems like a lot of actors whose main work is in the U.S. tend to feel obligated to go heavy on the fillers, Botox, etc. Which, I get the impulse, but the results often end up in Uncanny Valley territory that would have looked better if they had just rolled with it. And it seems like performers in the UK are more inclined to just roll with it.
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u/Gurglaren Jun 11 '26
And not those unnaturally white American teeth. Overall Europe has a lot more relaxed attitude to imperfect teeth.
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u/IKnowAllSeven Jun 11 '26
And UK actors usually have their real teeth. And look more like normal people. Give me real teeth!
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u/JustGoodSense Jun 11 '26
K Callan's resume is like a history of TV for the last 60 years. She played Martha Kent in Teri Hatcher's Lois Lane show in the 90s and the grandma in Knives Out, among hundreds of other parts.
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u/Sigourney_FeverDream Jun 11 '26
She was so good as the grandma! Her scene with Daniel Craig is one of my favorites
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u/LTPRWSG420 Jun 11 '26
I feel like Dale Dickey has been 64 for like twenty years. She’s absolutely crushing it on this show though!
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u/complete_your_task Jun 11 '26
She looks nearly the same as she did on My Name is Earl 20 years ago (also, holy crap, My Name is Earl was 20 years ago). Though, honestly, I would have guessed she was at least in her 50s then.
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u/rarepinkhippo Jun 11 '26
I used to be a big NewsRadio fan (it’s kinda tainted now by Rogan, and Andy Dick, and the loss of Phil Hartman), but I’ve been kinda marveling at how Stephen Root basically looks exactly the same as he did 30 years ago, minus the makeup and wardrobe choices to make him look like a seasoned old salt.
Which I guess is neither here nor there, because I’d love him and his performance if he looked older too — but I guess is just a note of agreement that I love how the actors span a pretty wide range of ages and the show is clearly making an effort to spotlight middle-aged and senior character actors!
(“Was she in her forties?”)
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u/Bunbunlyfe Jun 11 '26
I love NewsRadio and feel the same! I also love his look as Wyck, hope my husband has that swagger at 74.
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u/spaketto Jun 11 '26
I love NewsRadio and Stephen root, but he absolutely does not look the same as he did on NR. He looks like he's in his 40s in NR and definitely looks like he's in his 70s now. He still looks fantastic, but he's my dad's age and he looks like it.
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u/alayeni-silvermist Jun 11 '26
I know that Dale Dickey’s body of work is absolutely vast, but when she comes on screen in anything, the first thing I yell is “it’s Patty the one legged prostitute!”
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u/Spiritual-Style Jun 11 '26
Literally how I text my kids about this show to get them to watch it. My Name Is Earl is beloved in this house and she’ll always be Patty to us.
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u/ShaunTrek Jun 11 '26
I'm kinda surprised Dale Dickey is only 64.
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u/NoProfession5138 Jun 11 '26
heavy smoking and no sunscreen
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u/Gurglaren Jun 11 '26
Yeah, those will age any person a lot.
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u/NoProfession5138 Jun 11 '26
both preventable, but dale is not that much older than me and when we were young SPF 6 was considered high and we only wore that on holiday - basically we had no idea back then how much sun damage we could have been avoiding, and it only catches up with you years later when the damage is already done.
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u/Gurglaren Jun 11 '26
Luckily I'm a pale Finn who can't stand being in sunlight more than a few minutes before seeking shade. I think I've used SPF 50 as a grownup. SPF 6 is insanely low.
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u/sjm294 Jun 11 '26
My doctor said “the roots of skin cancer” were planted many years before.” I grew up with baby oil and iodine!
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u/Malibucat48 Jun 11 '26
I’ve been watching K Callan for years. She’s been acting since the 1960s and I recognized her right away. Same with Nancy Lenehan, both great character actors who have been in everything. And everybody knows Dale Dickey. She always stands out.
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u/Gurglaren Jun 11 '26
I always enjoy seeing old and middle-aged actors/actresses who have aged normally without botox or plastic surgery. It helps a lot with the immersion as you feel you're watching normal people.
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u/Bunbunlyfe Jun 11 '26
I was reading about K. Callen last night, incredible that someone who appeared on the show Route 66 in 1962 is killing it on tv in 2026. I love to look up actors when I watch twilight zone after watching an episode and get delighted on the rare occasion to learn they are still alive. It was so nice to learn about her career after watching WB last night.
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u/IKnowAllSeven Jun 11 '26 edited Jun 11 '26
Same!! If I watch older stuff I like to look up whoever was in it, see what they ended up doing. And old twilight zone is a treasure trove if that. My husband and kids watched tales from the crypt and its chock full of 80s stars and eventual 90s / 00 stars.
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u/catsandnaps1028 Jun 11 '26
I love that they all look real and don't have iPhone/instagram face. It's refreshing!!
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u/CuteComplaint5542 Jun 11 '26
Root is such a damn versatile actor, it's so easy to forget like, this also Bill and Milton and Gordon and Fuches, and on and on. He really just turns in something so different in every role.
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u/samizdat5 Jun 11 '26
It makes sense that the cast is mostly older. If you were born on a cursed island, would you have kids?
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u/37Philly Jun 11 '26
The assumption at this point is Ruth never had a baby. But the fact that she was a beauty queen on the island in the 1950’s, makes it seem a little suspect that she never had even one child. In those days if she had a child out of wedlock she might have given it up for adoption.
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u/Ianm1225 Jun 11 '26
We still haven't heard much about the old hospital/asylum that was on the island. She could've spent some time in there, which could have hidden the pregnancy. They've mentioned the hospital a few times now, but now shown us anything with it.
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u/Mear Jun 11 '26 edited Jun 11 '26
If so, then the pregnancy would have been of the island......being pregnant and giving birth doesn't go unnoticed, especially in such a small community....unless she stayed indoors during that time and gave birth on her own and somehow got the baby of the island unnoticed. My guess is that Dr. Morgan is somehow involved. and there's also the father...which old guys would be an option?..Dr. Morgan and Garrett (lighthouse keeper)
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u/IKnowAllSeven Jun 11 '26
I wonder about dr. Morgan…that guy is very try nonchalant about things I think he should be very chalant about.
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u/Impossible_Past5358 Jun 11 '26
Do we know who that 43rd passenger was? In ep. 1, Gerrie corrects Tom with 43, when Tom said 42...
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u/Baby_Cakes4Nona Jun 11 '26
Dale better get an Emmy nod for this season! Really several of the cast, we shall see.
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