Sela Ward, aging authentically

By Arlene Vigoda -- Sela Ward says she's comfortable in her 43-year-old skin. "We need to embrace whatever age we are and own it," the actress says. "We live inauthentically and do violence to ourselves when we lie about how old we are."

Ward hopes her upcoming documentary, The Changing Face of Beauty, will help alter what she sees as society's less-than-favorable views on women and aging. It airs March 19 on Lifetime Television. Still, Ward says she's not sure whether cosmetic surgery is in her future. "I don't know that I have the courage not to have plastic surgery. The thing for me is not deciding to have it or not. It's about how we feel inside - that strong center of knowing that I'm OK no matter how old or thin I am."

Ward says that mind-set was instrumental in her decision to produce her own projects. The first, a romantic comedy called Catch a Falling Star, airs Sunday on CBS. "I had to empower myself in different ways. . . . I didn't like someone else being in control of my universe."

She says she loves playing divorced mom Lily Manning on ABC's critically acclaimed Once and Again. "The show is so honest and real and deals with so many universal subject matters."

Among them: starting over professionally. In an upcoming episode, Ward's character is hired at an online magazine by a boss almost half her age, played by Billy Crystal's daughter Jennifer. "I've only done two scenes with her so far, but she is adorable - and she was good."

Now that the show's a hit, is she getting film offers worth pursuing? "There's definitely more activity filmwise," she says, "but . . . right now, I just want to spend time with my family and sleep!"

Fans split hairs over Lily's 'do

Seems everyone has an opinion about Sela Ward's hair on Once and Again.

"I can't believe how much it's written and talked about," she says with a laugh. "I've seen Once and Again chat rooms where people have even criticized me for wearing my hair in a ponytail when the character is 40 years old."

Media critics also have taken the show's continuity editor to task: one second her hair's in front of her ears; the next, it has mysteriously moved behind. Explains Ward: "We shoot so many takes, so when they get in the editing room, if it's a great performance, they don't care so much about the hair. It's all about the performance."

Ward says it was her idea to have the character constantly touching her tresses. "That was a conscious choice I made for Lily," she says. "There are people who play with their hair unconsciously, but it seems to bother some fans, so I've toned it down a bit."__USA TODAY (March 2, 2000)