Melissa Gilbert Says She Had to 'Escape' Hollywood in 2013 in 'Order to Age': 'Everybody's Always Looking' (Exclusive)

Mar. 15, 2025

Melissa Gilbert.Photo:Julie Zahn / Modern Prairie

Julie Zahn / Modern Prairie

Melissa Gilbertcouldn’t be more thrilled she moved away from Los Angeles when she did.WithLittle House on the Prairiecelebrating its 50thanniversary on Wednesday, Sept. 11, the actress opened up to PEOPLE about her personal journey in Hollywood and beyond. A product of Los Angeles in the ‘60s and ‘70s — “I had anincredibletime growing up,” she says — Gilbert started acting at age 2 and was cast inLittle House on the Prairieas the iconic Laura Ingalls Wilder when she was 9. The role would establish her place in the cultural zeitgeist in that decades that followed.

Melissa Gilbert with husband Timothy Busfield in Los Angeles, California in December 2012.Albert L. Ortega/Wireimage

“No matter how much we push it downstream is inevitable,” Gilbert continues. “So are you going to age comfortably and happily? Are you going to fight it, be unhealthy and feel like there’s something wrong with you for aging and that you’re defective because you’ve gotten older?”

After L.A., Gilbert initially moved to Michigan, staying there with husband Timothy Busfield for five years. (The pair tied the knot on April 24, 2013.) The actress, accustomed to some of the trappings of Hollywood such as Botox and facial fillers like Restylane, stopped receiving the popular injectables and had her breast implants removed in 2015. She also stopped coloring her hair her trademark red, letting her shimmering gray shine through.“I had to get out of there [L.A.], because it felt like I was not being authentically myself,” she says. “In the five years that I was in Michigan, all of that stopped. … I stopped everything and just focused on being as physically and emotionally healthy as I could. And I think that shows, ‘Yes, I’m aging, but it’s not a curse — it’s ablessing.’"

Modern Prairie cofounders Melissa Gilbert and Nicole Haase.Julie Zahn / Modern Prairie

From copper clay carafes and pie plates to lightweight, hand-painted woven dresses, the site now offers a wide range of apparel, housewares, craft items and other accessories, all created with “seasoned women” in mind.“Modern Prairie is a place where the modern seasoned woman can connect with other women to share their stories as as we walk through all of these huge transitions in our lives,” Gilbert explains. “We areallgoing through incredible things, whether they’re physiological, hormonal changes happening, we’re losing our spouses and partners or have children leaving the nest."

In considering her decades-long professional and personal journey, Gilbert she’s developed a steadfast “strength."

“I think the strength that we possess having just survived this long is remarkable,” she adds. “But the lessons that we’ve learned, I feel so much stronger and so much better in my own skin at this age than I ever have.”“I now am confident of my opinions. I feel like I’ve really earned the right to my opinions and I have something to say,” she continues. “So I would encourage the women in the Modern Prairie community … to say it, tobeit, to move forward, to try new things. Just because you’re a certain age, it doesn’t mean that life is over. Life isnotover until it’s over. So make the most of it while you can.”

Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.Allnineseasons ofLittle House on the Prairiecan be streamed on Prime Video and Peacock.

source: people.com