Blythe Danner: I wasn't made for movies

Blythe Danner doesn't consider herself a movie star.

The actress made her silver screen debut in the 70s and has won cinemagoers over with roles such as Dina Byrnes in Meet the Parents and Aurelia Plath in Sylvia, in which she starred opposite real-life daughter Gwyneth Paltrow.

But it's only recently she's landed a lead, in rom-com I'll See You in My Dreams, as she reasons film was never her go-to area.

"I have no idea [why it took so long]. It's not something I sought, ever. I'm a stage actor. I've always felt like I belonged on the stage," she explained to Vulture. "I never envisioned being a movie star, and I still don't think I am: I'm a stage actor who's had the good fortune to get a great role in a movie. I've done movies over the years, some of which I'm proud of and some I'm not."

Co-starring Rhea Perlman and Martin Starr, I'll See You in My Dreams follows the journey of widow Carol as she realises life can begin again at any age.

Blythe is pleased by the reactions it has been getting from viewers, especially after speaking with one young man who revealed he sobbed during the story.

"I think it takes a special kind of young person who feels my generation is marginalised. You just don't see movies about my generation very much. We're invisible," the 72-year-old noted. "And I'm glad that these young people are responding to the fact that you will grow old and die. You will suffer. We all experience loss, and grief is the price we pay for loving. You have to not fall apart, and keep going."

She also praises director Brett Haley for being able to "inhabit the bones" of a generation before him, and reveals the best advice he gave her was telling her to relax and breathe.