Shirley MacLaine was seen in new, rare photos alongside her pal Juliette Binoche! The 89-year-old actress and author smiled for the camera in a series of new Instagram pictures shared by Juliette, 59, to wish fans a “Happy New Year 2024.”
One week prior, Shirley was spotted in Malibu out to dinner, wearing a stylish sweater and a pink skirt, according to photos published by Daily Mail in December 2023. Not only that, but the Academy Award winner also made public appearances at a few industry events. In October 2023, Shirley was given the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Industry Dance Awards & Cancer Benefit Show.
Shirley’s entertainment career has spanned several decades. After starring on Broadway and performing as a dancer in a few productions, the Virginia native landed roles in multiple films. Among her most successful performances include Terms of Endearment, The Turning Point and The Secret Life of Walter Mitty.
In 2022, Shirley starred in two episodes of the hit Hulu comedy series Only Murders in the Building, portraying the role of Leonora Folger, a.k.a Rose Cooper, alongside series stars Selena Gomez, Steve Martin and Martin Short. After her episodes were released that year, Shirley sat down with Town & Country magazine to discuss her experience on the set.
“I’m an old friend of [series creator] John Hoffman, and I guess, if he was writing a grocery check, he would think, ‘OK, somehow, let’s include Shirley,’” she joked. “He’s very creative and he’s a good friend, so he wrote this part. And I love this character, I think she’s terrific.”
While calling the whole experience “fun,” Shirley noted that she had known Steve and Martin “for years.”
“We talk about the world and our past — we do a lot of that — but they’re also very intelligent, so we talk about real stuff,” the Emmy Award winner said. “I think some of them didn’t believe I was still alive.”
As for whether Shirley saw this opportunity as a way to transition into streaming TV roles, the actress simply pointed out that she “just loved the character and wanted to work again with Marty and Steve, to be in Manhattan doing something creative, and I wanted to see how John would be as a director; he really did a good job. I just wanted to do it, period.”
Shirley had to fly to New York City to film the show during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, which came with limitations. Nevertheless, the Out on a Limb writer embraced her time on the set in the Big Apple.
“I didn’t go anywhere. I have to say how incredible our crew was, how darling and sweet and protective and disciplined,” she noted. “When I was there filming, the crew was the whole city to me, or at least it was during the pandemic.”
Since she had moved to New York when she was a teen, Shirley pointed out that she has “spent so much of my life there.”
“I went to Manhattan when I was 16 from Arlington, Virginia, where all the politicians make s**t up,” she quipped. “I loved how New York gave me discipline and organization and a sense of survival and creativity. It was the future.”