8 Women Proving That 50 Is The New Age To Win At Everything

ELLE UK May cover star and one of the original 'Supers' turns 50 this summer. An age that would previously mean a model's career would be long gone, but not for Claudia Schiffer.

The German model is still a face of Chanel, famously returned to the Versace catwalk for SS18 with Naomi, Cindy, Helena and Carla, is launching a collection of knitwear and sweatshirts with Être Cécile and a collection with ceramics brand Bordallo Pinheiro. Plus, she was an executive producer on last year's Elton John biopic, Rocketman.

Speaking to ELLE about turning 50 this year, Schiffer said optimistically: 'As a matter of fact, I can’t think of anything worse right now than if you said, "There’s a magic pill and it’s going to make you look 20 again."'

Lopez's year of turning 50 was peppered with career highs.

In the fashion world, there was the viral moment she closed the Versace runway in Milan in a tribute to the 22 year-old dress she wore at the Grammy's in 1997 (which led to the creation of Google Images) and the fronting of new campaigns for Coach and Versace.

On screen, Lopez received the Golden Globe nomination for the 'performance of her career' in Hustlers - which even led her ex-fiancé Ben Affleck outraged that Lopez was not nominated for an Oscar and praising her, by stating: ' How awesome is it that she had her biggest hit movie at 50? That's f***ing baller.'

Musically, the triple threat headlined the Super Bowl with Shakira and, in her personal life, an engagement to partner Alex Rodriguez.

How 50 should be done, we think.

Aniston turned 51 in February, but had a pretty remarkable 50th year leading up to that point.

There was a critically-acclaimed performance as news anchor Alex Levy in The Morning Show, which saw the LA-based star win a Screen Actors Guild award - the first she'd won since 1997 as part of the Friends cast.

Speaking of Friends, thanks to streaming services the hit sitcom has reached a whole new devoted fanbase leading to a one-off special with the entire lead cast (currently on hold due to the Coronavirus outbreak) being in in the works after years of demand.

Oh, and she kind of broke Instagram too. When the formerly social media-shy Aniston finally joined the platform in October, the excitement and follower demand led to the site experiencing a glitch. She also dethroned actual royalty - Prince Harry and Meghan Markle - by breaking their record of the fastest Instagram account to reach one million followers, proving her enduring appeal from nineties TV sweetheart to 50-year-old icon.

This year, the woman that swept the board clean during Awards Season - the Golden Globes, Oscars, BAFTAs and SAG Awards - wasn't a 20-something actor, but 50-year-old Renee Zellweger, who won the Best Actress award at every ceremony for her portrayal of Judy Garland.

Almost 20 years years after she first gained recognition for roles in films like the Bridget Jones franchise, Chicago and Cold Mountain (she was nominated for Academy Awards for the first two, and won for the latter) Zellweger proved that you can continue to be at the top of your game - there's really no other way to interpret an Oscar win right? - than when you've reached 50.

You can't believe she's 50? Well, she isn't for another month but, regardless, we cannot believe it either.

Hitting the age milestone on 22nd May will mark 34 years since the south London native debuted the now iconic - and quotable in a Beyoncé song - 'Naomi Campbell walk'.

Regularly spotted on the catwalk - she walked for Kenneth Ize and Tommy Hilfiger last season - or watching from the FROW, championing causes close to her heart through longstanding, successful initiatives like Fashion For Relief and recently winning the Trailblazer Award at the Fashion Awards. Campbell continues to dominate in the fashion world.

Though the Hero singer might claim not to acknowledge birthdays - over the years, the star has joked she is 'eternally 12', or 18 because that is the amount of number 1 singles she has and during the viral 10 Year Challenge last year posted the same picture twice because 'time is not something I acknowledge' - Carey turned 50 this week.

Arguably still considered the power ballad 'diva', Carey was scheduled to headline Brighton Pride this year - which has been cancelled amid the Coronavirus pandemic - and plans to release her memoirs later this year.

In January 2020, Carey was also inducted into the Songwriters Hall Of Fame.

The youngest on the list - King will turn 50 in 10 months - the actor reached a career high last year, winning the Best Supporting Actor Oscar and Golden Globe for her role in If Beale Street Could Talk.

Before that monumental moment, King was best known for supporting roles in comedies like Miss Congeniality, Jerry Maguire and Legally Blonde 2, with Vanity Fair saying her Oscars win was '30 years in the making'.

Currently, King is fronting the HBO drama Watchmen and we're sure we'll be seeing a lot more exquisite parts for her as she and her peers continue to demonstrate that age is no barrier.

Another woman who it's hard to believe is 50, is Cate Blanchett.

After wowing audiences with her portrayal as Queen Elizabeth I in the 1998 film Elizabeth, Blanchett is still regarded as one of the most talented thespians around with two Oscars, three BAFTAs and three Golden Globes under her belt (and was even nominated for another Globe this year).

In her 50th year, Blanchett is moving on from the big screen (where her best known films include critically-acclaimed The Aviator and Carole) to return to TV, fronting the hugely anticipated upcoming miniseries Mrs America.

The series is a biopic of Phylis Schlafly - the conservative anti-abortion and anti-feminist activist - who campaigned for the 1972 Equal Rights Amendment not to be ratified into US constitution, who Blanchett plays opposite Rose Byrne as feminist and ERA supporter Gloria Steinem.