From her Oscar-winning work in to , The Witches of Eastwick to , to , Susan Sarandon has been a fixture on our screens, big and small, for the better part of six decades. Now 79, she remains as busy as ever, continuing her lifelong activism (she’s a vocal advocate for Palestine) and still rolling out films and TV shows (her latest will be Andrea Pallaoro’s , in which she plays a glamorous singer opposite Alicia Vikander).

“I Didn’t Want To Make It A Big Deal”: Susan Sarandon On Making Her UK Stage Debut At 79

But, her stardom wasn’t always guaranteed. Born Susan Tomalin, she was the eldest of nine, growing up in Queens, and later New Jersey, before studying drama at the Catholic University of America in Washington, DC. It was here that she met actor Chris Sarandon, who would go on to be best known as ’s Prince Humperdinck, and be nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for . The pair married, appeared in stage productions together, and attended a casting call in 1969 for John G Avildsen’s satirical drama . He missed out on a part, but she made it through, making her feature debut at the age of 23, as the rebellious daughter of an advertising executive.

She parlayed this into parts in soap operas (ABC’s A World Apart and NBC’s Search for Tomorrow) and TV movies (F Scott Fitzgerald & The Last of the Belles), before breaking out in a big way as the effervescent Janet to Barry Bostwick’s Brad in The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Awards glory for the likes of and came soon after, and then there was no looking back.

Ahead of Sarandon’s new drama, , premiering at the Venice Film Festival, we take a look back at the first few years of her career, as she grew from wide-eyed ingénue to fully-fledged movie star.

From An Oasis Documentary To Dakota Johnson As Marilyn Monroe, 10 Buzzy Releases Heading To The Venice Film Festival 2026