Kate Walsh has been a staple on our televisions for more than two decades now, best known for playing Dr. Addison Montgomery in the long-running medical drama “Grey’s Anatomy” and her own spinoff, “Private Practice.”
During that time, many of us have gotten to witness Walsh go from up-and-coming actress to seasoned TV star and entrepreneur right before our eyes. And at 58, if you ask her what it means to “age well,” it’s all about embracing where you’re at and all the changes that come with each stage of life.
“I’m here, number one, so that’s cool,” Walsh tells us. “And then it’s just sort of [about] surrendering to the changes that happen. As opposed to fighting it and freaking out about it. Or, if you’re freaking out about it, make space for that and then recover ... it’s weird, you get aches and pains, but there’s a good solution to that: Rest, keep moving and feed yourself.”
That, and having a good supplement, Walsh says. Which is why she partnered with Centrum to promote its Age Defy and Centrum Silver lines.
When it comes to her wellness routine in general, she prioritizes a lot of the same basic principles. “Sleep is very important,” she says. “Exercise, but I go easy with that ... I do different exercises, just keeping it moving [with things] like yoga, Pilates, weights and then walking, but nothing too militant. It’s got to be a little easy-does-it for me.”
However, Walsh’s approach to her wellness routine has changed a lot through the years. In the beginning of her career, she says it was something that she “wasn’t even conscious of.” She shares, “When I first started, I was like, I’m going to have a cheeseburger, get four hours of sleep and then wake up with a quadruple espresso cappuccino and power through. And that just stops working, especially when you’re working. I think when I really started working consistently — which probably coincided with ‘Grey’s’ — working those hours, and you start realizing, oh, I have to sleep well, I need to eat well and have a more balanced [diet].”
And while she may not be working those same hours as she once was on the “Grey’s Anatomy” set, she does still make the occasional cameo as the beloved Dr. Montgomery, with her most recent appearance being earlier this year, which she said was “really fun.”
“We always have a good backstory and storyline, so it was great to go back this last time and have that history with [Caterina Scorsone, who plays Amelia], and I was also interested in seeing Addison sort of turn it upside down a bit too in her personal life.”
As for what’s in the store for the character, Walsh says that she’s not sure what the future holds just yet. “They usually cook something up, or we collaborate together. They’ll call and go, ‘What do you think about this?’ And I’ll say, ‘Well how about this?’ But Meg Marinis, who’s writing it and who’s developing the Texas [’Grey’s Anatomy’ spinoff] show with Shonda, is incredible.”
As part of our Shopping Diaries series, we asked Walsh to share some of her current must-haves from her favorite sleep tracker to the drugstore beauty product she swears by.
Shopping Diaries: Kate Walsh
Her secret to healthier aging:
“I just love that Centrum is tried-and-true; it’s a trusted brand, it’s clinically-trialed. And it’s also specific for my age group, the Centrum Silver. Every time I say silver I want to laugh a little bit ... but I do love it because the Silver addresses heart health, cognitive function, eye health,” all of which, she says, tend to change with age.
Her hydration hack:
“When we were on ‘Grey’s’ they were eradicating plastic bottles, so they gave us, for a crew gift one year, a metal bottle, but there’s no straw in it. This [on the other hand] is like eight cups ... it’s like an adult sippy cup. For makeup, because it has a straw, you’re not messing up [the makeup], and you’re not dribbling water down.”
Her sleep must-have:
The Oura Ring is great for a number of reasons, but Walsh likes it, in particular, as a sleep aid. “I like looking at my sleep schedule. That’s really what I look at it for, to see how much I’m getting. Even though you kind of know when you’ve underslept, it’s nice to see sometimes; it’s kind of fun to see the visual.”
Her pick for all-over hair moisture:
Overall, Walsh’s beauty routine is pretty low-maintenance “I usually don’t wear any makeup,” she says. While she’ll sometimes apply mascara, she typically leaves her skin bare. “I love this sunscreen. The Secret is the brand; it’s called Solar Serum. It’s out of Australia. That’s amazing, because it’s got a little tint to it.”
Another one of her favorites is this oil from Elizabeth Arden, which she uses all over her body and face for a moisture boost.
Her drugstore beauty staples:
“I still love old school Aveeno, with colloidal oatmeal, because I tend to have very dry skin,” Walsh says. “And then in a pinch, in winter, if your radiator is drying out your skin, just put a coat of Vaseline over it. I’m not kidding. In Chicago and New York, that’s what I always did. That’s like the drugstore version of the 8 Hour Miracle Oil.” Plus, she says, “it’s not going to clog your pores.”
Her cat mom essential:
Walsh is famously a cat lover and has three orange cats, Jim, Frank and Rico. And while cats are notoriously bad at drinking water, a fountain like this one can help make sure they’re staying hydrated. “It’s a fountain, it’s stainless steel and it’s always moving, because they like moving water, so they’re constantly drinking from it. Even though they still splash with their paws and make a mess.”
While she didn’t share the exact model she has, this option comes from an editor-approved brand and features a stainless steel tray.
