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June Squibb is reflecting on her decades-long career in Hollywood — and what she hopes her legacy will be.
Squibb spoke to PEOPLE exclusively at the star-studded Academy Museum Gala at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in L.A. on Oct. 18. During the conversation, the actress spoke about the way she has seen the industry evolve in her lifetime, especially in relation to women and ageism.
“I think that Hollywood has changed, because I’m a woman who has just done two films about a 90-year-old, and that never happened before, really,” Squibb, 95, said.
She also noted that she considers the films Nebraska, Thelma and Eleanor the Great — all of which came later in her career — to be among some of her best work.
Squibb went on to talk about how she hopes to be remembered, noting that she ultimately simply wants to be known as an artist who was good at her craft.
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“I just want to be known as a good actor. I mean, you know, I think we all want to feel that we’re doing our best work, and that’s — that’s what I want,” she said.
Squibb began her career in the theater, performing in several productions at the Cleveland Play House before taking on two Off-Broadway roles. She made her Broadway debut in Gypsy at the age of 30 in 1959, which was followed by other theater gigs and roles in numerous films and TV series.
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Squibb will return to Broadway in Jordan Harrison’s upcoming Pulitzer Prize-finalist play Marjorie Prime in the titular role. Her character is a woman navigating memory and loss as she interacts with a holographic companion programmed to resemble her deceased husband.
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The science-fiction drama, which also stars Cynthia Nixon, Danny Burstein and Christopher Lowell, will begin previews on Nov. 20 before opening on Dec. 8 at the Hayes Theater in New York City.
In 2024, Squibb spoke to PEOPLE about landing her first cinematic leading role at the age of 94 in the action-comedy Thelma. She revealed that she even did her own stunts for the movie, which follows a grandmother who falls victim to a phone scam and sets out to track down the perpetrators.
“I always think I could do whatever stunt is necessary in a film,” Squibb said of her action scenes at the time, which included rolling over a bench in a glass shop and crashing her motorized scooter.
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“I was so proud of myself doing this. The scooter was great fun — it was a joy to be on that,” she added.
