This is a list of 40 Sexy Actresses over 40.
To see them all, start at the beginning.

10. Mary-Louise Parker, 44

Right now Parker has the lead role in the Showtime comedy-drama Weeds, for which she has won a Golden Globe. Weeds is about a suburban mother who, following the death of her husband, decides to sell marijuana to make money while also attempting to maintain her community reputation. She has appeared on screen naked several times during the show’s run. Parker is also well know for her role on the NBC drama, The West Wing, as women’s rights activist Amelia “Amy” Gardner. Among feature films she has appeared in such movies as Red Dragon and Saved!. Parker also won an Emmy and a Golden Globe for her role in HBO’s Angels in America miniseries.  She’s intelligent, yet adventurous, and maybe the hottest mom on TV right now.  That’s an easier title to get now that Lauren Graham has moved on to movies.

9. Elizabeth Hurley, 43

Hurley is an is an English model and actress who became best known as the former girlfriend of Hugh Grant. She made her first film appearance in the film Aria, but is most recognized for her performance in the spy spoof Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery. Although generally knocked for her acting skills, she’s appeared in a series of major Hollywood movies, ranging from Bedazzled to EdTV.  Acting talent or no, Hurley oozes sex in whatever she does with her curvaceous body and sultry glances.

8. Julianne Moore, 47

The fiery redhead has won an Emmy (Daytime) and a Golden Globe in addition to being a four time Academy Award-nominee. She got her start on the soap opera As the World Turns, and began starring in feature films in the early 1990s. Her part in 1993’s Short Cuts, including a half-nude monologue, gained her critical acclaim and recognition, and she was cast in high-profile Hollywood films, such as the summer blockbuster The Lost World: Jurassic Park. During the late 1990s and early 2000s, Moore appeared in a series of films that received Oscar recognition, including Boogie Nights, The End of the Affair, and Far From Heaven. Today she is recognized as one of Hollywood’s best actresses.

7. Ashley Judd, 40

Judd began acting by appearing on two episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation before breaking into film in 1992’s Kuffs. She gained some critical acclaim for her role in Heat among others, and by the end of the 1990s she had managed to achieve significant fame and success. She did so by after earning leading roles in a series of thriller films, including Kiss the Girls, Double Jeopardy, and High Crimes. In addition to her on screen success, Judd earns bonus points for her fanatic support of Kentucky basketball.

6. Marisa Tomei, 43

Tomei had her breakthrough performance in My Cousin Vinny, for which she surprisingly won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress. Jokes still circulate that Jack Palance read the wrong name that night. However, she proved it was no fluke when she received a second Oscar nomination for In The Bedroom. And to top if off, she may have gotten better looking with age. Recently she appeared in the Sidney Lumet-directed Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead, where she received extra attention because of her nude love scenes and she also appears as a stripper in the upcoming film The Wrestler.  Good at playing characters with a little bit of sass to them, Tomei may look her best when she’s being not so nice.

5. Demi Moore, 46

Moore became well-known after a string of 1980s teen-oriented movies, such as St. Elmo’s Fire and About Last Night. As a result, she was often listed as one of the Brat Pack. Moore parlayed that fame into the commercial success of Ghost, and was subsequently given more prominent roles in movies such as in A Few Good Men. She was the first actress to reach the $10 million salary mark and was one of the best known actresses of 1990s Hollywood. She again garnered notoriety for being a founding “celebrity investor” in the Planet Hollywood chain of restaurants. After a break from her acting career, Moore returned to the screen as a former member of Charlie’s Angels gone bad in the 2003 film Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle.  Moore also is a card carrying member of the Cougars after her marriage to Ashton Kutcher.

4. Halle Berry, 42

Named after a department store, Berry’s breakthrough role was in Spike Lee’s Jungle Fever, in which she played a drug addict named Vivian. Her most famous role was when she portrayed the mutant superhero Storm in the comic book adaptation X-Men and its sequels, X2: X-Men United and X-Men: The Last Stand. In 2001, Berry appeared in the film Swordfish, which featured her first on-screen nude scene at the reported cost of $500,000. I say it was money well spent.  Later that year she appeared as Leticia Musgrove, the wife of an executed murderer, in the film Monster’s Ball. Her performance earned her an Academy Award nomination and win for Best Actress, becoming the first African-American woman to receive such an award. Berry spent most of her youth in beauty pageants, so you know she brings the sex appeal.

3. Diane Lane, 43

Lane made her feature film debut at thirteen opposite Sir Laurence Olivier in A Little Romance. One of few child actors to make a successful transition into adult roles, Lane made some waves with audiences in the The Outsiders and Rumble Fish. However, she did not hit it big until nearly two decades later. In between, she was nominated for an Emmy for the TV mini-series Lonesome Dove. Her career revival was complete in 2003, when she was nominated for an Oscar in Unfaithful, a drama about a housewife who indulges in an adulterous fling with a mysterious book dealer. Lane combines a perfectly proportioned face with a smoking body and an amazing voice to rank this high.

2. Salma Hayek, 42

Robert Rodriguez gave this Mexican actress her big break, casting her in a starring role opposite Antonio Banderas in the action thriller Desperado. She followed her success with a brief but memorable role as a vampire queen in From Dusk Till Dawn, where she danced provocatively on a table. In 2003, she reprised her role from Desperado by appearing in Once Upon a Time in Mexico, the final film of the Mariachi Trilogy. Frida, co-produced by Hayek, starred her as Frida Kahlo and earned her a Best Actress Academy Award nomination.  Still, no matter her on-screen success, Hayek remains more famous for that unbelievable body off-screen.

1. Monica Bellucci, 44

This Italian-French vixen began her film career in the early 1990s, appearing mainly in French films. In 1992 she made her first appearance in a major English-language film as one of Dracula’s brides in Bram Stoker’s Dracula. She is perhaps best known in the United States for her role as Persephone in The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions. She also appeared in the mega-hit The Passion of the Christ as Mary Magdalene. Among her international roles, Brotherhood of the Wolf and Irréversible are some of her more noted films.  But like many on this list, she’s more famous for her hourglass body and jaw-dropping curves. She is simply god’s gift to men.

Congratulations to the top 40. Many were considered, but these forty made the cut. Still, we would like to give an Honorable Mention designation to the following women:

Marg Helgenberger, Dana Delany, Maura Tierney, Julianna Margulies, Kelly Preston, Connie Nielsen, Melora Hardin, Eva la Rue, Robin Wright Penn, Catherine Keener, Bridget Fonda, Emily Watson, Connie Britton, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Geena Davis, Lena Olin, Laura Harring, Angela Bassett, Melinda Clarke, Vanessa Marcil, Julia Roberts, Charlotte Ross, Sandra Bullock, Teri Hatcher, and pre-plastic surgery Meg Ryan.

And Happy 40th Birthday on December 2nd to Lucy Liu! Next time she’ll be in the running.

If you missed any of our Forty over Forty, start at the beginning.

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