人们常说，年龄只是一个数字而已。这话到了好莱坞就没了道理。好莱坞的信条是：如果你到二十几岁还没闯出名堂，你就趁早别乱闯了。我二十八岁的生日是独自一人过的，当时我同时打三份餐馆工，那一天也不例外。一片变了味的奶酪下肚了事。如果当时有人告诉我要对这种日子心存感激，我非当场给他一拳不可!在那潦倒几年里，我从头到脚一张床，轮流寄宿在哥哥和好友凯伦的两间公寓里。我那时想都没想过，自己有一天会在36岁的“高龄”接到电视剧《实习医生格蕾》里医生的角色。现在我44岁了，回头一望，我将一生都对那个孤苦的28岁生日感激不尽。
我的二十岁年华，一直都是在争取打入戏剧影视圈，其间就靠端盘子倒咖啡、帮人刷油漆、打零工维生。每次熬不过想打退堂鼓的时候，哥哥就会找到我上班的地方，耐心地问我如果不再演戏以后会做什么。这样的对话每次都不例外地产生一个回答，“那好吧，我还是演下去吧。” 我真的只想演戏。
1999年我搬到洛杉矶。在此之前，我从来都没有担心过自己的年龄，到这时候我周围一望，才发觉自己是随时绝对可以被人替代的，任何时候都有比我年轻、漂亮、性感、体力强、出手快（可能还更便宜）的女孩子。但是我不让自己由此分心。也许因为我是看经典电影长大的，我心目中的偶像：Bette Davis， Joan Crawford，Lucille Ball，Mary Tyler Moore，Venessa Redgrave，Maryl Streep和 Judi Dench，都是一直演到她们步入三、四十岁,甚至更久。年纪的问题从未困扰过我，它激励了我。
30岁那年,我在喜剧《朱凯利节目》里拿到了一个长期出镜的角色，我以为这次终于“闯出来了"。人人都对我说,“你现在说了算!”“你肯定能从这里拿到很多的演出合约！”，试镜期间我觉得信心十足，斗志昂扬。那一年我破了纪录,试镜试了八、九集 - 可是后来一集都没有上演。我带着被拒绝的耻辱远走安哇拉(加勒比海上一个英属的小岛)疗心伤。这段经历成了我的转折点：我学会在表演的时候放下自我。如果剧组总监说我演得好，可是制作人说我的鞋子搭配得不够型儿，我会省下伤心掉泪，跑去比华利购物中心的美西百货买一双五吋的恨天高。
当《实习医生格蕾》成为人人皆知的电视剧后，我的整个生活起了变化。我觉得我一辈子企盼的生活就是这样的；毕竟我花了三十年的时间去营造它呀。多年做服务生和跑龙套的艰苦经历练就了我自如对付各种挑战变数和三教九流人等的功夫，这时候的我凭着自主的性格和修养内涵充分享受着这一切，因为曾几年轻时，我已经像普通人一样真正地、不经意地、没有被狗仔队追着地活过、错过。
我的年龄给予我看事的深度，表达己见的信心，接受变数和冒险的勇气。42岁时，我以“男朋友”命名我的第一只香水，开始做我的香水生意。告诉你吧，其实这过程并不容易，我遇到过障碍，犯过错误，有过重重困难，不过我知道怎样在作CEO和当演员之间相得益彰，因为我早在二十几岁时就学会了在几份工作中游刃有余。
最精彩的是，我知道我才刚刚起步，生活的屡次跌撞教会了我，冥冥未来不是我所可以窥透掌握的。
您可以在以下链接阅读英文原文： http://www.harpersbazaar.com/magazine/feature-articles/kate-walsh-success-after-35-1012?src=email
我为您附上英文原文如下：
Age is just a number. Unless, that is, you live in Hollywood, where there's this notion that if you haven't hit it big by your 20s, you may as well hit the road. But if anyone had told me that I would be thankful when I looked back on celebrating my 28th birthday alone in New York City with a piece of stale cheesecake, working at one of my three waitressing jobs, I would have punched him. During those broke years, I shared not one but two studio apartments, first with my brother, and then with my pal Karen, sleeping head to foot in the same bed. I never dreamed that one day I would land my breakout role at the ripe old age of 36, as a doctor on Grey's Anatomy. But now, at 44, I look back and I am eternally grateful for that lonesome birthday.
For me, my 20s were all about reaching for the brass ring of work in theater, television, and film, surviving in between by waiting tables, painting houses, serving coffee, and temping. Anytime I wanted to quit acting, my brother Joe would come visit me at work and patiently ask what I would do instead. The conversation always yielded the identical result: "Okay, I'm gonna keep acting." Acting was all I ever really wanted to do.
I never worried about my age, though, until I moved to Los Angeles in 1999. That's when I had a look around and realized that I was infinitely replaceable. There would always be someone younger, prettier, sexier, stronger, faster (and probably cheaper) than me. But I didn't let it deter me. Maybe that's because I grew up watching classic films, and my heroines—Bette Davis, Joan Crawford, Lucille Ball, Mary Tyler Moore, Vanessa Redgrave, Meryl Streep, Helen Mirren, and Judi Dench—were all working in their 30s, 40s, and beyond. I was never defeated by age; I was inspired by it.
At 30, I thought I had made it because I landed a recurring role on The Drew Carey Show. Everyone told me, "The world is your oyster," and "You'll get loads of development deals from the networks." I went into pilot season feeling confident and on top of the world. I tested for eight or nine shows that year, which was a personal record—and got not a single one. After that my ego and I took a vacation to Anguilla to recover from the rejection and humiliation. It was a big turning point: I learned to take my pride out of the audition rooms. So when a casting director said that my audition was great but the producers didn't think my shoes were sexy enough, instead of crying I ran to Macy's at the Beverly Center to buy a pair of five-inch stilettos.
And when Grey's Anatomy became must-see TV and my entire life changed, I felt like it was the moment I had been waiting for my whole life; after all, I had spent three decades working toward it. By then I had the character and the personal infrastructure to enjoy the incredible ride. Through my years of slogging through waitressing and bit parts, I had developed the capacity to weather challenges, rejection, and the various personalities you encounter, with grace and tact. I had been able to actually live life, unobserved, paparazzi-free, and make a ton of mistakes in private, when I was younger.
My age gives me perspective and the confidence to speak out about things, to embrace change, and the courage to take risks. I even started my own fragrance business, Boyfriend, at age 42. Trust me, it has not been easy. I've faced obstacles, missteps, and learning curves, but I know how to balance the role of CEO with my day job as an actress because I mastered the juggling act in my 20s.
The best part is that I know I'm just getting started. I've learned over and over that life happens on its own terms, not mine.
