Heather Graham's 'powerful' realisation at 56: 'You start to go, who cares?'

EXCLUSIVE: Heather Graham plays a well-to-do woman in the eternal beauty business in the new horror action comedy They Will Kill You. But not all is as it seems.

And the same can be said about the eternal beauty business of Hollywood, with Graham previously speaking openly about sexism in the industry and pressures on women to look young.

After shooting to fame at the age of 18 in the 1988 teen comedy License to Drive, Graham, now 56, tells nine.com.au she feels more confident and comfortable in her own skin.

Want the official inside scoop on MAFS, unfiltered and unseen? Watch After The Dinner Party here

"I think that getting older, you start to kind of go, 'Who cares?' You know?" she says, while promoting the movie at the SXSW festival in Austin, Texas.

"Because you're just grateful to be alive. You're grateful to have a job.

"I mean of course, I feel like I would like to look good, but I think you realise it's an inside job because if you're looking outward and going, like a people pleaser, 'What do you think of me?' There's no real, true satisfaction in that.

"Even if everyone's telling you you look good, you have to really just tell yourself, 'You're good, you look [good], you're good enough'.

READ MORE: Margot Robbie and Kylie Minogue unite for Chanel campaign

READ MORE: Superman actress Valerie Perrine dies at 82

READ MORE: Mum at the centre of Chappell Roan drama hits back

"I feel like that's more powerful than looking for outside approval."

And it's that inner confidence that had the Austin Powers actress swinging a sword in this new movie, relishing at the stunt sequences with co-stars Zazie Beetz, Patricia Arquette and Tom Felton.

"It was so fun ... it's a little bit scary, because you're like, 'Oh my gosh, I hope the person doesn't really hit me in the face'. But it's really exciting," Graham says with a laugh.

"I would love to do more, it just felt so athletic – I do a lot of yoga, so there's something very visceral and athletic and physical about it that I really liked."

Patricia Arquette had a similar view but flagged there were downsides to it as well.

"Fun [but] I mean you can also really get banged up as an actor," the 57-year-old tells nine.com.au.

That's something their younger co-star Myha'la (known best for her role in HBO drama Industry) could relate to.

"It's very challenging – those stunt folks are no joke, I had a very hard time keeping up with most of it," the 29-year-old reveals.

The film unfolds after Asia Reaves (Beetz) enters a NYC building as a housekeeper while looking for her missing sister Maria (Myha'la), and discovers a secret society.

The idea for the movie started as a running joke between writer/director Kirill Sokolov and his wife, after they moved into an odd apartment building in Manhattan 10 years ago.

"We came in and in a week, we understood that we are the only people who are younger than 65 and most of them are somehow ladies, lonely ladies," he tells nine.com.au.

"At some point, I started to do reconstruction on the kitchen. I moved a kitchen cabinet and I found a hole in the wall that leads to my neighbour's apartment, and we started to have this running joke that, 'Oh s--t, I think we found a cult, and at some point they will come after us through this hole and sacrifice us'.

"And this running joke, many years later, turned into this movie."

For a daily dose of 9honey, subscribe to our newsletter here.

Sokolov was left so impressed by his leading lady he's already writing more to work with Beetz again - but he's staying mum on whether there might be a sequel to come for the "genre mash up" movie.

"Let's see how this movie plays ... I have a great idea for a sequel already so...," he teases.

"When you're lucky to work with people like Zazie, and you just like immediately want to work more with them."

They Will Kill You is in cinemas across Australia from today.

FOLLOW US ON WHATSAPP HERE: Stay across all the latest in celebrity, lifestyle and opinion via our WhatsApp channel. No comments, no algorithm and nobody can see your private details.