Actor Rebecca Romijn’s decades-long character roster is full of complex, powerful female characters with a backstory: X-Men’s shapeshifting, morally ambiguous Mystique, The Librarians’ team protector and former NATO operative Eve Baird, and most recently, highly capable and competent Una Chin-Riley, Lieutenant Commander of the USS Enterprise in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, to name a few.
Romijn grew up watching reruns of the original Star Trek next to her mom, who introduced her not only to the show, but to the idea that the universe was full of mystery and wonder to be explored. It was the perfect combination of roots and wings that have guided her both on and off screen.
“Arm candy-type roles have never been interesting to me,” she says. “I gravitate toward roles that I'll be proud to show my daughters, that are positive for them and other young women.”
At 53, Romijn is in a rich season of life with both new frontiers and role reprisals. Later this year, she’ll slip back into Mystique’s blue skin in Avengers: Doomsday. Getting that call was “surreal,” she says, and even though she’s a seasoned veteran of the camera, she found herself facing a bit of imposter syndrome when it was time to go back to the makeup chair.
“There was a tiny part of me that wondered if I just happened to be the one who was available,” she says. “But then I realized, ‘Wait, no. I created this character. This is my character.’ And then I just stepped back into it. It was incredible.”
Staying Power
Playing a comic book antihero and a Starfleet commander requires more than just acting prowess; it also takes a commitment to preventative health practices so her characters can show up in full strength. As Lieutenant Commander Chin-Riley, wielding phasers and engaging in hand-to-hand combat is all part of a day’s work, so Romijn stays ready.
“I have a job that requires me to stay fit, but I'm also up against menopause, so I'm trying to do whatever I can to take care of myself as I move through the next section of life,” she says.
Romijn does Pilates five days a week as well as daily infrared yoga sessions—a type of hot yoga that uses infrared panels to warm the body to 95 F to 105 F as you practice. Both keep her limber, grounded, and mostly illness-free.
“I adore yoga for so many reasons,” she says. “It’s really good for your immune system, and the focused breathing does wonders, but the infrared seems to be the magic ingredient.”
Physical activity is a defining part of her family life, too. Romijn and her husband, actor Jerry O’Connell, love to be in nature and take regular hikes with their twin daughters and dogs.
I keep waiting for my body to really feel old, and it doesn't,” she says. “I feel just as active and I have just as much energy as I did in my mid-20s. I feel great.”
A Balanced Approach to Nutrition
For years, Romijn leaned heavily into the paleo diet, sticking to lean meats, fish, vegetables, nuts, and seeds and cutting out dairy, grains, and legumes, but lately she’s welcomed some old favorites back, such as bread and pasta. Her household’s favorite carb: sweet potatoes.
“Everybody in my house loves sweet potatoes, so we come up with all sorts of loaded sweet potato dishes to try,” she says.
Romijn says she pays closer attention now to what her body needs, relying on regular blood tests to guide her supplement routine. She takes a mix of vitamins tailored to fill nutritional gaps, including vitamin D, zinc, and methylated B vitamins. Sleep has become more elusive with age, she says, so she’s incorporated a nightly regimen that includes magnesium and tart cherry.
Embracing Preventative Care
Routine screenings have become more, well, routine now that she’s in her 50s. Between projects, she prioritizes scheduling mammograms, lab tests, and annual physicals. This year she had her first colonoscopy, with clean results.
“It’s a lot of doctor’s appointments,” she says, “but I would rather practice preventative care than deal with illness.”
Romijn calls the shingles vaccine “a big game changer.” After having the infection in her 40s, she was quick to get the shot once she was eligible at 50 and afterward was excited to learn about studies that show it may do more than prevent shingles.
“They’ve discovered that there’s something about it that may be anti-inflammatory, and it may reduce the risk of dementia by 20%, so I highly recommend that one,” she says.
Strange New Worlds
As Star Trek: Strange New Worlds continues into season 4, Romijn is facing her own new frontier: watching her daughters launch into adult life. The two will graduate high school in 2027, and Romijn says they’re ready to find their place in the world.
“The most exciting thing about being a parent is watching your kids start to spread their wings,” she says. “You worry about them, of course, but you also know your job is to get out of the way.”
As her daughters grow older, so does Romijn. And she embraces her aging with open arms. Turning 50 felt like a “celebration,” she says, and she hopes to move through this decade and beyond like her own mother did—gracefully and fearlessly.
“My mom made such an impression on me,” Romijn says. “I loved watching her age. She had laugh lines all over her face that I always thought were really beautiful. And these days we have cosmetic procedures to ‘fix’ those things. But I don’t feel afraid of aging. And I want to pass that down to my daughters. After all, age is just a number.”
