June Squibb on Hitting Hollywood's A-List at 83 and Still Shooting Movies at 96

The following quotes are excerpts from the latest episode of the Allison Interviews podcast with host and entertainment journalist, Allison Kugel interviewing Academy Award-nominated and Tony Award-nominated actress, June Squibb (June Squibb photo credit: Manfred Baumann).
 
The full podcast episode is now available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify; and YouTube.
 
June Squibb shares her secret to longevity at age 96, how her 2014 Oscar nomination for her role in Nebraska changed her career, “I never had to audition again,” the film industry’s changing attitude towards older female characters, friendship with Scarlett Johansson, her Judaism conversion journey, dropping out of kindergarten at age five, the final season of the Showtime and Paramount+ series, Yellowjackets, and whether she’d ever host SNL.  

​​On finding her voice at age 5 when she dropped out of kindergarten:
 
“This sounds silly, but I quit kindergarten. My parents sent me to kindergarten, and I was, what, four or five. When I came home they said, ‘How did you like it?’ I said I didn’t like it, because all you did was eat cookies and take naps. I thought it was all pretty silly, so I said I didn’t want to go back. And thinking this would end things, they said, ‘You’ll have to tell them yourself. We’re not going to tell them you’re not coming back.” We didn’t have a phone at the time, but my grandmother who lived next door did have one. When I went over there to her house, I guess she helped me find the number. We called up the kindergarten and I said, ‘This is June Squibb and I’m not coming back.’ And I never had to go back to kindergarten (laughs). Back then, you didn’t have to go to kindergarten. You only had to start in the first grade. It made me feel I could make my own decisions. I could decide I’m not going to do something, and not do it.”
 
On the secret to her longevity at age 96:
 
“I’ve always looked at life as, ‘what’s coming and what’s happening, not back[wards]. I think that has a lot to do with it, because I still do that. I still think, ‘What’s going to happen tomorrow?’ And when I started in the theatre, especially in New York, there you don’t know from one day to the next what’s happening, and I thrived. It never bothered me. And I think that’s a part of it, because I always, even as a kid, looked forward. Looking back is wonderful and memories are wonderful, but when you’re living your life, I think you have to keep thinking, ‘what new [thing] is going to happen.’”
 
On the journey of a long life:
 
“I’m still active, still working. I have two films coming up. I think you have to realize that there are going to be things happening, especially in your body, that you have to deal with. I use a cane. I don’t use it all the time, but I use it a lot, especially outside. A lot of it is because I was a dancer. My body was beaten up. I have two knees that are not real, and it’s what your body is saying to you as you get older. I think that’s hard for some people. Maybe it isn’t for me because I was a dancer, and I beat my body up so much. You have to learn to live with it all, and you move and change. With each thing that happens, you deal with it.”

On making the 2025 film Eleanor the Great with director Scarlett Johansson:
 
“I was given the script about three years before we filmed it. There was another director involved with it and we talked, and I had said I would do the film. Then we found out that the director was changing.  They said, ‘We still want you to do the film, but we don’t know who’s directing it. Later they contacted my agent and I and said that Scarlett Johansson is interested, they’re sending her the script, and would I write a note to her. So, I did. I said, ‘I like the script a lot and I’m eager to do it, and I hope you will enjoy it to.’ It was very simple; I didn’t push anything. She loved the script from the beginning, and she said she would do it. She and I had a Zoom, and we’ve talked about this since… I think we both breathed a sigh of relief afterwards, because I liked her a lot and she liked me a lot. So, it was like, ‘Wow, let’s do this!’”
 
On being directed by Scarlett Johansson and bonding over their shared Judaism:
 
“It was wonderful. She’s such a smart woman. And all those years as an actress, she knew exactly what I needed and what I didn’t need. [She knew] how far to tell me things and what to tell me. It was great for me. I don’t think I’ve ever had a director that was so in-tune to my work as she was. We talked about [Judaism]. She feels very Jewish from her grandmother. She spent a lot of time with her grandmother, and she told me all the things they did [together] in New York, because they lived in New York City, the both of them. We talked quite a bit about it.”
 
On whether she would host SNL:
 
“Oh, I think you’ll have to ask Colin [Jost] and Scarlett [Johansson] that one (laughs). She’s talked about she and I doing it together, but you know, who knows because she’s working all the time. People do keep saying it to me, and they mention the fact that Betty White did it.”

 

​On Hollywood’s youth obsession and her career taking off in her 80s:
 
“I think it’s changing. I think it has changed; the whole idea of film. We have leading ladies now in their fifties and sixties, and that never happened before. I’m amazed that I just shot two films [playing] a ninety-year-old, that were written for a ninety-year-old [actress]. I think the whole country is much more interested in aging than ever before, and I think the film industry is using that. They see that, and so they are giving people what they want to see.”
 
On how getting the Academy Award nomination for her role in Nebraska changed her career:
 
“I knew [Nebraska] was important when we were shooting it, and then having it recognized the way it was. And then once you get a nomination for the Academy Award, you never audition again. It’s strictly people asking you to do things. And this did not happen to me before that. And then after that, that’s how you spend the rest of your career. 

​On the rise in antisemitism since October 7th :
 
“I’m most upset by the killing, the deaths, and I feel there is a better a way. And I realize, I understand what happened that day, I do. [I understand] the need to solve it, to do something about it. But I don’t think what is happening now is the way it’s going to be solved. I think what is happening now is just going to exacerbate the whole thing. It’s going to get worse, and there is no ending in sight if this keeps up. That’s how I feel about it.”
 
On her Jewish identity being called into question because she converted:
 
“I don’t think anyone has ever called me out on the fact that I converted; it’s been accepted, completely. I sometimes question myself about what we’ve just been talking about, you know? I think, should I be more like, ‘Whatever [Israel] does is fine?’ Or should I question them? Then I come out saying, ‘Well, you have to question, no matter what answer you come up with.’ That’s a part of who we are, I think. Does this have to happen? Are there answers for it? Is there another way this can be done? And then the lives would be spared.”
 
On her experience converting to Judaism in her twenties:
 
“There was a reform temple near the Cleveland Playhouse. I went there and there was a young Rabbi and he said, ‘Sure. Come in every day.’ I did it for 5 or 6 weeks, quite a long period of time. We used to laugh because we got to know each other so well, and we would start talking about other things that were of interest to either me or him, and he would say, ‘June, we’ve got to get back to Judaism (laughs)’. But we covered everything, and I certainly knew more than my husband-to-be did at that time. I really felt wonderfully full, from it.”
 
“[I was raised] Methodist. Neither my husband-to-be, or his family ever said a word to me about [converting]. Nobody was influencing me. I made the decision on my own to do this, and it was something I wanted to do. It was a joyful thing. [My rabbi] kept saying to me, ‘All the laws came into being because of a very real need.’ And he talked about the food laws. He told me the reason for a lot of them was because of how food was kept years and years ago. He said there’s a real reason for it. It’s not just somebody’s idea that this should happen. That made such sense to me, that these [laws] were all coming about because people needed them to live well and not to hurt themselves, and not to be ill. This made such sense to me.”

On joining the 4th and final season of the hit Showtime/Paramount+ series Yellowjackets:
 
“I’m done filming it and I think they are almost done finishing up [filming] on the fourth season. I finished [filming] my part about a month ago. I’m in six episodes and they are shooting eight. I didn’t shoot the first one and I didn’t shoot the eighth one. I did the six [episodes] in between. They won’t print or let [my storyline] out. I think they want to keep it a secret. I think the series is kind of wonderful and it’s really got a following. I’m amazed at the people who come up to me and say, ‘I read that you were doing Yellowjackets. Yay! We can’t wait!’ It’s amazing, the audience it has. It’s almost like a cult TV show.”
 
On whether the final season of Yellowjackets will satisfy fans:
 
“Oh yes, I think it will be. I think they’ll get answers, and they’ll see more of the same (laughs). I’m not saying people are eating each other, but there are some harsh things.” 

About Journalist and Podcast Host Allison Kugel
Allison Kugel is a veteran entertainment journalist and host of the Allison Interviews podcast. Watch and embed the entire interview video with June Squibb @YouTube. Listen to the audio podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify. Follow Allison Kugel on Instagram @theallisonkugel and AllisonInterviews.com.
 
SOURCE: ALLISON INTERVIEWS PODCAS