Rolling Stone interview, 30 October 2026
Jessica Lange, 77, has hinted that her acting career may be nearing its end. In a Rolling Stone interview published on Friday, 30 October 2026, she said, “I actually feel like I’m coming to an end.” This is a hint, not a retirement announcement: PEOPLE, Parade and JustJared all stress that she has not ruled out another project.
Photos: Jessica Lange, 2012, by Mingle MediaTV via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0), from Flickr; and Jessica Lange at PaleyFest 2013 for “American Horror Story: Asylum”, by iDominick via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0). Page images were re-exported with the subject in the upper portion of the frame and an empty band below, so no text overlaps the subject; neither was upscaled (2012 portrait used at 850 pixels wide from a 2222-pixel original; PaleyFest portrait used at 850 pixels wide from a 1067-pixel original). Converted to WebP; display crops may apply. Every page photograph shows Jessica Lange — the only person this story is about; no other person is pictured as a subject. A 2009 Taormina festival photograph was checked and rejected because a second, partial figure appears at the frame edge and the image is blurred.
The interview and the background below were reported on 30 October 2026 by PEOPLE, Parade, JustJared and UNILAD, all reporting Lange’s Rolling Stone interview. All facts below are reported by at least two of those outlets or are direct Rolling Stone quotations as reported by them. Lange did NOT formally announce her retirement: this story says “hints” and “may” throughout, and states plainly that she has not ruled out another project.
A fitting final film?
Lange pointed to her most recent film, Eugene O’Neill’s Long Day’s Journey Into Night, in which she plays Mary Tyrone, as a role that could serve as a fitting final film. The film, co-starring Ed Harris, Ben Foster and Colin Morgan, reached theatres on 25 September 2026.
Photos: Jessica Lange, 2012, by Mingle MediaTV via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0), from Flickr; and Jessica Lange at PaleyFest 2013 for “American Horror Story: Asylum”, by iDominick via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0). Page images were re-exported with the subject in the upper portion of the frame and an empty band below, so no text overlaps the subject; neither was upscaled (2012 portrait used at 850 pixels wide from a 2222-pixel original; PaleyFest portrait used at 850 pixels wide from a 1067-pixel original). Converted to WebP; display crops may apply. Every page photograph shows Jessica Lange — the only person this story is about; no other person is pictured as a subject. A 2009 Taormina festival photograph was checked and rejected because a second, partial figure appears at the frame edge and the image is blurred.
The interview and the background below were reported on 30 October 2026 by PEOPLE, Parade, JustJared and UNILAD, all reporting Lange’s Rolling Stone interview. All facts below are reported by at least two of those outlets or are direct Rolling Stone quotations as reported by them. Lange did NOT formally announce her retirement: this story says “hints” and “may” throughout, and states plainly that she has not ruled out another project.
Why she may step back
Lange said there are a couple of projects that have been in the works forever and may or may not happen. “It doesn’t seem easy to get things made anymore,” she said. “At least not the kind of films that interest me.”
Photos: Jessica Lange, 2012, by Mingle MediaTV via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0), from Flickr; and Jessica Lange at PaleyFest 2013 for “American Horror Story: Asylum”, by iDominick via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0). Page images were re-exported with the subject in the upper portion of the frame and an empty band below, so no text overlaps the subject; neither was upscaled (2012 portrait used at 850 pixels wide from a 2222-pixel original; PaleyFest portrait used at 850 pixels wide from a 1067-pixel original). Converted to WebP; display crops may apply. Every page photograph shows Jessica Lange — the only person this story is about; no other person is pictured as a subject. A 2009 Taormina festival photograph was checked and rejected because a second, partial figure appears at the frame edge and the image is blurred.
The interview and the background below were reported on 30 October 2026 by PEOPLE, Parade, JustJared and UNILAD, all reporting Lange’s Rolling Stone interview. All facts below are reported by at least two of those outlets or are direct Rolling Stone quotations as reported by them. Lange did NOT formally announce her retirement: this story says “hints” and “may” throughout, and states plainly that she has not ruled out another project.
How she wants to be remembered
Asked how she would like to be remembered, Lange kept it simple: “For some good parts, for doing some good films, being an honest actor.” She added that she has been incredibly lucky, and that decades of acting have been a joy — difficult at times, balancing family, career and locations, but a great adventure.
Photos: Jessica Lange, 2012, by Mingle MediaTV via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0), from Flickr; and Jessica Lange at PaleyFest 2013 for “American Horror Story: Asylum”, by iDominick via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0). Page images were re-exported with the subject in the upper portion of the frame and an empty band below, so no text overlaps the subject; neither was upscaled (2012 portrait used at 850 pixels wide from a 2222-pixel original; PaleyFest portrait used at 850 pixels wide from a 1067-pixel original). Converted to WebP; display crops may apply. Every page photograph shows Jessica Lange — the only person this story is about; no other person is pictured as a subject. A 2009 Taormina festival photograph was checked and rejected because a second, partial figure appears at the frame edge and the image is blurred.
The interview and the background below were reported on 30 October 2026 by PEOPLE, Parade, JustJared and UNILAD, all reporting Lange’s Rolling Stone interview. All facts below are reported by at least two of those outlets or are direct Rolling Stone quotations as reported by them. Lange did NOT formally announce her retirement: this story says “hints” and “may” throughout, and states plainly that she has not ruled out another project.
Nearly five decades on screen
Lange’s film debut came in 1976’s King Kong, which won her a Golden Globe as new star of the year. Looking back on the directors and actors she worked with — including Bob Fosse, Dustin Hoffman, Jack Nicholson and Martin Scorsese — she told Rolling Stone: “It was an extraordinary run.”
Photos: Jessica Lange, 2012, by Mingle MediaTV via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0), from Flickr; and Jessica Lange at PaleyFest 2013 for “American Horror Story: Asylum”, by iDominick via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0). Page images were re-exported with the subject in the upper portion of the frame and an empty band below, so no text overlaps the subject; neither was upscaled (2012 portrait used at 850 pixels wide from a 2222-pixel original; PaleyFest portrait used at 850 pixels wide from a 1067-pixel original). Converted to WebP; display crops may apply. Every page photograph shows Jessica Lange — the only person this story is about; no other person is pictured as a subject. A 2009 Taormina festival photograph was checked and rejected because a second, partial figure appears at the frame edge and the image is blurred.
The interview and the background below were reported on 30 October 2026 by PEOPLE, Parade, JustJared and UNILAD, all reporting Lange’s Rolling Stone interview. All facts below are reported by at least two of those outlets or are direct Rolling Stone quotations as reported by them. Lange did NOT formally announce her retirement: this story says “hints” and “may” throughout, and states plainly that she has not ruled out another project.
The Triple Crown
Lange has won two Academy Awards — supporting actress for Tootsie (1982) and best actress for Blue Sky (1994) — three Emmy Awards, and a Tony Award in 2016 for playing Mary Tyrone in Long Day’s Journey Into Night on Broadway.
Photos: Jessica Lange, 2012, by Mingle MediaTV via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0), from Flickr; and Jessica Lange at PaleyFest 2013 for “American Horror Story: Asylum”, by iDominick via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0). Page images were re-exported with the subject in the upper portion of the frame and an empty band below, so no text overlaps the subject; neither was upscaled (2012 portrait used at 850 pixels wide from a 2222-pixel original; PaleyFest portrait used at 850 pixels wide from a 1067-pixel original). Converted to WebP; display crops may apply. Every page photograph shows Jessica Lange — the only person this story is about; no other person is pictured as a subject. A 2009 Taormina festival photograph was checked and rejected because a second, partial figure appears at the frame edge and the image is blurred.
The interview and the background below were reported on 30 October 2026 by PEOPLE, Parade, JustJared and UNILAD, all reporting Lange’s Rolling Stone interview. All facts below are reported by at least two of those outlets or are direct Rolling Stone quotations as reported by them. Lange did NOT formally announce her retirement: this story says “hints” and “may” throughout, and states plainly that she has not ruled out another project.
Not the first hint
This is not the first time Lange has mused about stepping back. In October 2023 she told The Telegraph she thought she was going to start “phasing out of filmmaking”, saying creativity had become secondary to corporate profits. She kept working after that — returning to American Horror Story for its 13th season.
Photos: Jessica Lange, 2012, by Mingle MediaTV via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0), from Flickr; and Jessica Lange at PaleyFest 2013 for “American Horror Story: Asylum”, by iDominick via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0). Page images were re-exported with the subject in the upper portion of the frame and an empty band below, so no text overlaps the subject; neither was upscaled (2012 portrait used at 850 pixels wide from a 2222-pixel original; PaleyFest portrait used at 850 pixels wide from a 1067-pixel original). Converted to WebP; display crops may apply. Every page photograph shows Jessica Lange — the only person this story is about; no other person is pictured as a subject. A 2009 Taormina festival photograph was checked and rejected because a second, partial figure appears at the frame edge and the image is blurred.
The interview and the background below were reported on 30 October 2026 by PEOPLE, Parade, JustJared and UNILAD, all reporting Lange’s Rolling Stone interview. All facts below are reported by at least two of those outlets or are direct Rolling Stone quotations as reported by them. Lange did NOT formally announce her retirement: this story says “hints” and “may” throughout, and states plainly that she has not ruled out another project.
What happens next
For American Horror Story’s 13th season Lange revisited four of her best-known roles: Constance Langdon, Sister Jude, Fiona Goode and Elsa Mars. What comes after that is open: the long-discussed projects may or may not happen, and no retirement date has been announced. Tap below for more VisitBest web stories.