Andrea Martin Talks Grandkids, ‘Gilded Age’ and ‘Learning to Just Be Me’ at 78 (EXCLUSIVE)

Beloved for her roles in My Big Fat Greek Wedding, Only Murders in the Building, Evil and now, HBO’s The Gilded Age, funny woman Andrea Martin understands the power of being herself, but at 78, the Tony-winner insists she’s still a work in progress. Here, in this intimate sit-down conversation with Woman’s World as our cover girl (Get your copy here!), Andrea reflects on rejecting worry, fueling creativity and embracing connection

With a mystical role in The Gilded Age Season 3, which premieres June 22, Andrea shares lessons about confidence, speaking her truth and finding joy—no matter what. Plus, the actress who was hit by an electric scooter last month takes to the soapbox to talk about safety in Central Park, New York.

How Andrea Martin turned love and loss into gold

Loss can crush us, but after Andrea Martin’s friend, Claude Tessier, was diagnosed with AIDS in 1992, he gave her two unexpected gifts.

“Claude always believed I should be on Broadway, but I was living in LA, bringing up two young boys,” Andrea tells Woman’s World. “I was also 45, and I had never considered it.”

Wanting to support her friends, Andrea auditioned for My Favorite Year anyway. “I got the part and he lived to see me do it—and I won the Tony for it,” she recalls fondly.

Claude’s final days also gave Andrea a new perspective. 

“I couldn’t do much for him, but I could be present for him,” she says. “I’m constantly thinking I must do more, but in that moment, it was enough to just love each other. I hope to apply that every day.”

Don’t ask if she’s retiring!

This prolific performer’s list of credits started with her sharing the stage with Gilda Radner, Eugene Levy and her future brother-in-law, Martin Short, in Godspell, and then breaking into TV alongside John Candy, Catherine O’Hara and Levy in 1976 via the Canadian sketch show SCTV. She’s been making us laugh—and sometimes cry—since then.

“Every single time I do something, I do it with so much enthusiasm, so much gratitude. That’s what strikes me after 50 years: Not that I keep getting work, but that I’m still so excited about it,” Andrea says. “How amazing that I’ve been given these multitudes of opportunities, all of which are so different.”

“And you know what I hate more than anything? When somebody says, ‘So, you going to retire?’” she adds. “I get so offended. No, I don’t have any plans to!”

So, what has Andrea learned after decades in the spotlight—and how does she stay grounded and joyful? Here, she shares the wisdom that keeps her centered.

Andrea Martin’s tip #1: It’s okay to be you

“I think I naturally walk toward the light—but that doesn’t mean I don’t have dark days,” Andrea says. “It’s exhausting to feel like you have to do cartwheels to please people all the time. I’m in therapy, after all these years, working on that. I’m 78—so I guess learning to let go and just be me has been a lifelong lesson,” she cracks. “What it really requires, I think, is being comfortable in your own skin. The reason we—especially women—do more than anyone even asks of us is because deep down, we feel like we’re not enough. So I still work on it every day. I meditated before this conversation, and I constantly remind myself: ‘You don’t need to do more. You don’t need to be more. It’s okay to just be who you are.’”

Andrea Martin’s tip #2: Speak your truth

“When I was younger, I could get obsessed with my body image,” confides Andrea, who won her second Tony for athletically working a trapeze—without a net!—in Broadway’s 2013 Pippin revival. “I don’t feel that way now, but I’ve worked hard to get here. I do Pilates three times a week, and I’ve learned to talk to people and speak my truth. It’s hard to do any of this self-evaluation alone—and my temptation is always to do it alone—but it never works. If you can say to someone, ‘I don’t like the way I look,’ or ‘I’m depressed,’ it’s a start.”

Andrea Martin’s tip #3: Let go of worry

“If I could give my younger self advice, I’d say, ‘Stop worrying.’ Worry doesn’t serve anybody,” says Andrea, who hops on her bike to ride around the city when she feels herself spiraling. “I can meditate, take deep breaths and think of positive things. That can really shift my mood.”

Andrea Martin’s tip #4: Strengthen bonds

“When you get older, you’re focusing more on how many years you have left,” Andrea says. “So I accept things with an open heart. I put one foot ahead of the other. Despite how sad or self-loathing I might get, I’m able to connect to an inner strength, and I also connect with mankind. I thank the doorman or subway driver for making me smile, because we all thrive on connection.”

Andrea Martin shares 2 of her keys to happiness

Lay down your armor: “I can’t say enough about the book, The Artist’s Way, by Julia Cameron,” Andrea says. “I wrote two one-person shows after doing the exercises. It touched me because it’s so simple. It asks you to throw away the armor you developed over the years and ground yourself in your most innocent thoughts—where we all get our creativity. Because we didn’t acquire creativity—we’re born with it!”

Savor little loves: “My granddaughter and her pup, Lemon, are coming to stay with me in Toronto this summer—it’s just so much life when you hang out with a nine-year-old girl!” Andrea shares the small things that bring her big joy. “I have a little house with a pond. I love gardening and feeding the swans.” 

Andrea Martin gets on her soapbox about electric bikes and scooters in NYC

Andrea is pretty even-keeled during her cover story sit-down interview, but she gets fired up when asked about her biggest pet peeve.

“The motorized scooters and bikes in Central Park should be outlawed,” she cries. “I was just hit by one, and it’s a miracle that I didn’t break anything. This is really true. He was on a motorized scooter and did not know he was going the wrong way, and he ran right into me when I was on my bike. Something has to be done. The Department of Transportation or the parks in the city should really take seriously the dilemma with these motorized bikes and scooters. They are so dangerous.”

Andrea Martin talks corseting up for ‘The Gilded Age’ Season 3

With HBO’s The Gilded Age Season 3 premiering June 22, Andrea’s newest role sees her getting into the drama as Madam Dashkova.

“I play a medium, and when The Gilded Age takes place, spiritualists were very popular,” she teases. “I have a beautiful scene with Cynthia Nixon, and the audience will decide whether my character can truly speak with the dead or if she’s a fraud.” 

The veteran actress confesses that the period’s corsets initially made her want to run, but she concedes, “It’s beautiful once you allow yourself to be in the world they’ve created. They have a lot of respect for this period, so everything is authentic, down to the buttons! It was phenomenal.”

To read Andrea’s full interview, pick up the latest issue of Woman’s World, on sale now!