Jane Seymour on Ruby’s Choice and her secrets to staying fit at 71

The acting legend has revealed how she maintains her incredible figure at 71 – including the workout she always goes back to.

As one of Hollywood’s biggest stars for the past five decades, Jane Seymour is instantly recognisable.

But for her latest role, the former Bond girl has undergone a dramatic transformation that sees her stripped back and hiding her trademark red hair.

“It was very freeing because it was not a question of looking good, it was just being Ruby,” Seymour told news.com.au.

“The moment I put the wig on and the makeup, the clothes, I was just Ruby.”

Jane Seymour in Ruby’s Choice. Picture: Instagram/Jane Seymour

Seymour, 71, plays the title character in Ruby’s Choice, an Australian film about a grandmother who moves in with her family after being diagnosed with dementia.

The uplifting film details how Ruby’s diagnosis helps heal her fractured loved ones. It was shot during Sydney’s lockdown in mid-2020 and is a topic close to Seymour’s heart.

“The material really resonated with me because I have two uncles both of whom had dementia, Alzheimer’s,” she said.

While in Hollywood there’s an often unfortunate trend which sees women struggle to get acting roles post-40. But for Seymour, it’s been the opposite.

She began in her most famous role in Dr Quinn, Medicine Woman aged 42 with the TV show going on to run for six seasons.

Seymour in Dr Quinn, Medicine Woman. Picture: Instagram/Jane Seymour

More recently she’s starred in Wedding Crashers and recently wrapped filming on a lead role in upcoming TV show Harry Wild.

She also appears in the Chuck Lorre TV series B Positive, which sees her age up and play an 85-year-old nursing home resident.

“I think this is my time now, in a funny way. I’m not trying to be a 30-year-old or a 40-year-old,” she said.

“I’m comfortable in my own skin and I’m comfortable playing out-there kind of characters.”

Seymour also credits her success in commanding major roles down to her range as an actor.

“I’ve always felt that as an actor you’re kind of like a blank canvas so there’s no tattoos or anything on me,” she said.

“I have purposefully always kept myself as being a canvas that can portray all kinds of characters.”

Seymour isn’t a fan of fitness fads when it comes to exercise. Picture: Instagram/Jane Seymour

‘Most of what I do, I can do in a hotel room or bedroom’

Seymour likes to keep things simple exercise-wise and doesn’t believe in following fitness fads or needing a membership at the latest trendy gym.

“I’d love to say I’m a gym rat, but I’m not,” she said.

Instead she will mostly do low-impact movement like pilates, which she first began practising back in 1970s Hollywood alongside some very famous faces.

“I believe there was only one pilates studio at the time, this guy called Kim Lee,” she said. “It was Joan Collins, Jaclyn Smith, Kate [Jackson] from Charlie’s Angels, Natalie Wood and myself.

“They were all big stars and I was just me.”

Seymour will often work out in her bedroom or hotel room. Picture: Instagram/Jane Seymour

Seymour still uses the pilates moves she learnt back then to stay healthy, as well as drawing on her dancing experience.

“I think because I was a dancer, my body understands what works and what doesn’t work.

If I can’t do pilates … I just do ballet barre in my room,” she said.

“If I don’t have weights, I’ll use my body weight … I”ll do all kinds of isometric things, stomach exercises.

“I don’t need a gym or pilates machine, although it does help for me to have one, because I can do that much more.

“But most of what I do, I can do in a hotel room or bedroom, to be honest.”

Above all, Seymour believes in listening to her body.

“There’s nothing like drinking a lot of water, eating a mainly Mediterranean diet and having lots of green vegetables,” she said.

She also follows a mainly Mediterranean diet. Picture: Instagram/Jane Seymour

“I think it’s very important to at least fast walk or get some kind of aerobics.”

As for her skin, Seymour doesn’t spend buckets of money on treatments or products.

“I don’t necessarily use very expensive products, I’ve just found that in principle it’s a question of exfoliating very well, at night I might use a retinol,” she said of her skincare routine.

“I’ll definitely use little granules to take the dead skin off in the morning and then I will use maybe use a serum, but quite often I’ll just put some moisturiser on and some sun protection or a very light foundation.”

Ruby’s Choice will be in cinemas nationally from March 3.

Originally published as Jane Seymour on Ruby’s Choice and her secrets to staying fit at 71