MAEVE QUINLAN
Being a Leading Lady in Life’s Second Act
By Alexia Melocchi
Edited by Dina Morrone
Maeve Quinlan is an American actress with Irish roots. She is a former professional tennis player who attended Northwestern University and USC on tennis scholarships. Maeve played Wimbledon, the French Open, and was a world-class tennis player who made many friendships on the court, including Chris Evert.
As a successful actress, Maeve is best known for starring as Megan Conley, for over a decade, in the soap opera, The Bold and The Beautiful.
I met Maeve over a decade ago when I cast her in my first feature film as a producer, THE DRONE VIRUS. A lover of animals, she would bring her Golden Retriever Labrador on set with her. I recently reconnected with Maeve, who is about to get married to the love of her life. She is also enjoying a different approach to her presence in the Entertainment Industry. While still acting, she is now also producing and about to launch a blog web site to inspire women to embrace their age and the second act of life. Ten years ago, Maeve’s life was very different. She was coming out of an abusive marriage and a painful divorce from actor Tom Sizemore. She had to do a lot of soul-searching about her participation in co-dependent relationships, to arrive at a place where her opinion of herself is now untarnished by the baggage of others, and she is looking forward to thoroughly enjoying her 50s.
What was it like to be a female professional tennis player back in the day?
Truth be told, I wanted to be an actress practically coming out of the womb. My parents came over from Ireland and were extremely into sports. My mother attended at a boarding school where she was the head of Sports and the head of Field Hockey. Therefore she had different ideas for me and signed me up for tennis lessons. I realized, “oh no, I don’t want to do this.” But at age 11, I won a tournament, and then I was like, “I am into this winning thing.”
When I played tennis, it was the incredible golden era of Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova, who drew large crowds in Tournaments, but it was Billie Jean King that we have to thank for all of that. It was a different time in tennis. They were playing with wooden rackets. Now there’s a lot more power in the tennis rackets, and so much power in the girls, they are so impressive. Although I did play all the majors and I was top 100 in the world at one point, but as a top junior player for the US, the money we won went to the US Tennis Association. I played as a professional for one year only because at USC, I was able to study my real love, which was acting.
How has your diet transitioned from athlete to actress to middle age?
It’s interesting because when I was on tour, there was not the emphasis on weight training and nutrition to the degree that it is now. When I was growing up, my metabolism was so fast I didn’t think much about the nutrition aspect of it. For fitness, I would get five hours on the court and running and maybe a few weights, but it’s a different program now. I see now that kids are on a whole different regime. Even millennial’s as a whole are so much healthier than how we were growing up.
I took my health for granted, and now as a fifty-four-year-old woman, I’ve already started becoming healthier as I didn’t realize for women’s’ bone density how important it is to be strong and healthy. Exercise has given me a purpose for my second half, and I’m not taking anything for granted. I do think about what I put into my mouth. I do think about if I’ve gotten in my exercise for the day. I do think about my skincare, and is it good for my skin, or is it just a quick fix? I don’t do Botox anymore.
How are you navigating being an actress in Hollywood over fifty?
I love this question because there was a time when I didn’t give my age. So when I was in my forties, I was still playing characters in their thirties. It was career suicide to give my age. Then there came this little thing called IMDb. I was so petrified of turning forty to the point I left out a lot of Hollywood people from my fortieth birthday party so they would not know my age. I spent twelve years on the soap THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL, which was international. It was such a fantastic experience with longevity. I was so blessed in my late thirties to do films as well, like your film THE DRONE VIRUS. My career was on fire, and I loved it. At forty, I thought work would drop off significantly. But it did not. I did a feature film called NOT EASILY BROKEN. I was on a series for four years called SOUTH OF NOWHERE. I was on 90210 and did a Lifetime movie per year. I thought to myself, “what the heck was I so fearful about?” Now I have started to get into producing because as I was closing in on fifty, the industry wasn’t as ‘excited’ about that because they didn’t know what to do with me.
So you are saying there were no longer enough roles available for you?
In this industry, it doesn’t matter what age you are if you look the way you do, and your name is famous as long as you’re going to add value to the project. Unfortunately, I’m caught in between being a name known to my fans and the industry, but I’m not that household name, such as Courtney Cox and Sandra Bullock, who are beautiful and both my age. I feel that for all the others, like myself, they don’t know what to do with you. Are you a grandma or what? I still play high school moms. I was so fearful about turning forty that my forties disproved that fear. So when fifty was coming up, I decided, “you know what? I can’t wait to be fifty.” Why don’t I try to be the ‘best fifty’ that I can be? So now, instead of hiding my age, I am very vocal about it because I want to help other friends embrace moving into your fifties because there is so much value in it. You’re so much more relaxed in yourself. You have the knowledge that you’re not going to look twenty any longer, but you’re going to look the best you can. It’s a really positive time if you look at it that way. You know yourself better. You don’t sweat the small stuff..
But then you realize it is also the time to come to terms with our parents being in the last act of their lives.
That’s right, one of the many things we face at this age is taking care of our parents.
Life becomes challenging with elderly parents. I think what’s great about being in your fifties is that your character is stronger, and you have been through a lot. I do feel that women are helping women in this day in age.With E-Commerce companies, women are doing incredible business right out of their own homes, and they’re also able to rear their families. I think it’s a great time and that’s why I’m so honest about my age. I do E-Commerce, so I can support women instead of supporting the millions of dollars spent in advertising to women.
What was it like to be a female professional tennis player back in the day?
Truth be told, I wanted to be an actress practically coming out of the womb. My parents came over from Ireland and were extremely into sports. My mother attended at a boarding school where she was the head of Sports and the head of Field Hockey. Therefore she had different ideas for me and signed me up for tennis lessons. I realized, “oh no, I don’t want to do this.” But at age 11, I won a tournament, and then I was like, “I am into this winning thing.”
When I played tennis, it was the incredible golden era of Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova, who drew large crowds in Tournaments, but it was Billie Jean King that we have to thank for all of that. It was a different time in tennis. They were playing with wooden rackets. Now there’s a lot more power in the tennis rackets, and so much power in the girls, they are so impressive. Although I did play all the majors and I was top 100 in the world at one point, but as a top junior player for the US, the money we won went to the US Tennis Association. I played as a professional for one year only because at USC, I was able to study my real love, which was acting.
How has your diet transitioned from athlete to actress to middle age?
It’s interesting because when I was on tour, there was not the emphasis on weight training and nutrition to the degree that it is now. When I was growing up, my metabolism was so fast I didn’t think much about the nutrition aspect of it. For fitness, I would get five hours on the court and running and maybe a few weights, but it’s a different program now. I see now that kids are on a whole different regime. Even millennial’s as a whole are so much healthier than how we were growing up.
I took my health for granted, and now as a fifty-four-year-old woman, I’ve already started becoming healthier as I didn’t realize for women’s’ bone density how important it is to be strong and healthy. Exercise has given me a purpose for my second half, and I’m not taking anything for granted. I do think about what I put into my mouth. I do think about if I’ve gotten in my exercise for the day. I do think about my skincare, and is it good for my skin, or is it just a quick fix? I don’t do Botox anymore.
How are you navigating being an actress in Hollywood over fifty?
I love this question because there was a time when I didn’t give my age. So when I was in my forties, I was still playing characters in their thirties. It was career suicide to give my age. Then there came this little thing called IMDb. I was so petrified of turning forty to the point I left out a lot of Hollywood people from my fortieth birthday party so they would not know my age. I spent twelve years on the soap THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL, which was international. It was such a fantastic experience with longevity. I was so blessed in my late thirties to do films as well, like your film THE DRONE VIRUS. My career was on fire, and I loved it. At forty, I thought work would drop off significantly. But it did not. I did a feature film called NOT EASILY BROKEN. I was on a series for four years called SOUTH OF NOWHERE. I was on 90210 and did a Lifetime movie per year. I thought to myself, “what the heck was I so fearful about?” Now I have started to get into producing because as I was closing in on fifty, the industry wasn’t as ‘excited’ about that because they didn’t know what to do with me.
So you are saying there were no longer enough roles available for you?
In this industry, it doesn’t matter what age you are if you look the way you do, and your name is famous as long as you’re going to add value to the project. Unfortunately, I’m caught in between being a name known to my fans and the industry, but I’m not that household name, such as Courtney Cox and Sandra Bullock, who are beautiful and both my age. I feel that for all the others, like myself, they don’t know what to do with you. Are you a grandma or what? I still play high school moms. I was so fearful about turning forty that my forties disproved that fear. So when fifty was coming up, I decided, “you know what? I can’t wait to be fifty.” Why don’t I try to be the ‘best fifty’ that I can be? So now, instead of hiding my age, I am very vocal about it because I want to help other friends embrace moving into your fifties because there is so much value in it. You’re so much more relaxed in yourself. You have the knowledge that you’re not going to look twenty any longer, but you’re going to look the best you can. It’s a really positive time if you look at it that way. You know yourself better. You don’t sweat the small stuff..
But then you realize it is also the time to come to terms with our parents being in the last act of their lives.
That’s right, one of the many things we face at this age is taking care of our parents.
Life becomes challenging with elderly parents. I think what’s great about being in your fifties is that your character is stronger, and you have been through a lot. I do feel that women are helping women in this day in age.With E-Commerce companies, women are doing incredible business right out of their own homes, and they’re also able to rear their families. I think it’s a great time and that’s why I’m so honest about my age. I do E-Commerce, so I can support women instead of supporting the millions of dollars spent in advertising to women.
I feel honored that you feel safe enough with me to also talk about a dark moment in your life, which affected the way you interacted with me, prior to your current fiancé.
Spiritual growth is so significant, and I think things are going so well you forget about it. Then when times are challenging, and you’re going through the low parts of your life, we all magically get spiritual. I think we have to remind ourselves to be spiritual during the good times, not just asking for help.
I am finally ready to say this and make it public, that I am a survivor of domestic abuse, and that’s something I intend to bring awareness to in my fifties. I didn’t like to talk about it earlier because I was just grateful to be out of that marriage and out of harms’ way. I grew up in an Irish Catholic household, so religion was important, but what that marriage taught me is that it’s not just the church, it is really about connecting and knowing there’s a higher power. To get me through those tough times, I took hikes in Runyon Canyon with my dog and talked to God. What brought me from there to here is knowing that there is truly no right way to practice religion. There is a right way for you. I think it has much more to do with strength in spirituality. I dated for a long time, had relationships, but when it came down to getting married again, there was fear around that. I met somebody who is equally spiritual and religious, but we connect on a level that it’s not just praying, but putting that into action. Being kind to others. We have a sign in our house that says, “what good shall I do today?” I think it’s about knowing and connecting and being the best you that you can be because it could be your last day or the last time you speak to someone.
Do you regret not having had children?
I never had kids, and now I’m about to be a step-mom to three amazing kids. It’s about knowing that there is a plan for you. I think all of my experiences leading up to this has helped me with that. I have been a devoted aunt to my nieces and nephews, and for all my best friends’ kids who call me aunt Maeve. I think it’s my calling to be a step-mom. I am sure that this happened to other women. I did not meet the right person at the right time to have kids. My fiancé is in another phase of his life, and I don’t need a baby to unify my love for him when he already has three amazing boys. I hope to be someone they look and know that I’m kind and that I love and care for them. I love their father, but that’s something going back to faith.
Do you feel faith has played a role in where you are today?
I always questioned, “Why didn’t I meet the right person?” I always felt that if I did view that person as someone who could be someone’s father forever, then it would be right, but now I met somebody with children, and so I hope I can have a positive impact on their life. I don’t think you can have any of those good feelings if you don’t have spirituality on some level.
What message do you want to give the fame-seeking generation now that you’ve been through all your phases?
Sadly, we live in a world in which we obsess if you didn’t get enough ‘likes’ on your post and the selfies are out of control. How do you fight that now when everything is so instantaneous? It has to go back to the parents limiting cell phone use. When the picture is better than the experience itself, I see this as one of the most significant problems. I think that the more kids can be involved in sports or theater or something that drives them personally, the more they will have to put down the selfies because they are too busy following their passion to be concerned about what Susy down the street is doing.
“May the road rise up to meet you” – is an Irish saying. It feels like Maeve is exactly on the path she’s supposed to be on, and that path is filled with a lot of confetti.
Special Thanks to
Maeve Quinlan
Alexia Melocchi; Interview
Dina Morrone; Story Editor
Diliana Florentin; Photography
Art Seitz; Photography
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