Aging, old age and the meaning of being grandparents from the perspective of elderly professional actors

Abstract The present study aimed to investigate the perception of elderly professional actors regarding aging, old age and the meaning of being a grandfather or grandmother. An exploratory, descriptive, cross-sectional study was performed. An open interview with a semi-structured script was used, and the data was analyzed with the Bardin technique. The discourse of the elderly actors revealed an unfavorable view of aging and the denial of this process in their personal lives. From an artistic perspective, however, the respondents had a favorable image of old age and youthfulness, highlighting the favorable influence of the profession on their own aging and old age. Most showed a favorable perception of the meaning of being a grandmother or grandfather in family life, and had a neutral stance on the interpretation of this role in the professional field. It can be concluded that the profession of acting influenced discussions on the various aspects of aging and that the skills of the actor's craft encouraged elderly actors to tend to deny their old age and to have an unfavorable view of aging.