28 TheBridgertonstar reflects on the year she took control of her own destiny. WhenBridgertonactorGolda Rosheuvelreflects on her 20s, she remembers the lack of opportunities given to her as a biracial woman. I was devastated, confused, and really hurt. Bitterness, however, is not in her vocabulary. With each closed door came a chance for Rosheuvel to dust herself off and aim even higher. My instinct was: I want to play her as a lesbian and nothing else....

28 TheAlaska Dailystar opens up about her regrets and finding success so young. Hilary Swank doesnt mince words when it comes to life in her late 20s. I was shot out of a cannon into fame, the actor tells Bustle. That’s what your twenties are really about, getting out there and experiencing everything in a larger way. I wasn’t very good at having fun for a long time. I was so driven, which you should be in your 20s....

28 TheSuccessionstar had her own secret existence among the free toiletries. As the shrewdly strategic Gerri Kellman, the general counsel and interim CEO of Waystar Royco onHBOsSuccession,J. Smith-Cameronis always planning at least three steps ahead of the competition. But she was still living paycheck to paycheck. As a young actress, ingenues are a dime a dozen, Smith-Cameron, now 65, tells Bustle. I had to just take jobs I couldn’t really design what I wanted to do....

28 The realities of the Vietnam War were always top of mind for the singer-songwriter. [Fame] was a struggle. She herself had alreadybeen incarceratedfor the cause. We in the revolution didnt want to hear about that. When there were people at home to be taken care of, why are we spending all this? So I didnt allow myself the joy of watching somebody land on the moon. That was where I was politically and with my family....

For a certain subset of MTV-loving millennials, Kelly Cutrone needs no introduction. I was very polarizing on television. That caused a lot of young girls and gay kids to go into PR because they watched that show. I felt like I really gave them permission. [In my early 20s] I was kind of an it girl in New York. I was one of the hot, young, successful girls at the time, Cutrone says....

28 The Broadway hotshot and two-time Disney princess opens up about her late 20s. At age 28, she returned to Kim. The part and songs were the same, but Salongas life was not. (Their speaking voices were performed by Linda Larkin and Ming-Na Wen, respectively.) These are films and pieces of music still being enjoyed by generations of young people. Even when I’m 6 feet under, that music will live on....

Harris Goes To Parisactor on dating the wrong men, finding her voice, and becomingThe Crowns Princess Margaret. Harris Goes to Paris. Its much more wholesome. Its nice to do a film thats a crowd-pleaser. Right from the onset, the audience is avidly rooting for Mrs. Harris and her Dior Dream. And so was Manville. What a wonderful character she is. I loved the fighting spirit of her, the actor remarks....

28 TheStation Elevenstar thought she had her whole career figured out. In 1991, Lori Petty was already a star. In her downtime, the then-28-year-old paged the script forFree Willy. She was confident and talented, athletic and in-demand. Her co-stars already included Geena Davis, Robin Williams, and Patrick Swayze. She had very good reasons to believe the scripts would never stop coming her way. I’m very blessed, she says. I’m highly blessed and highly favored....

28 The Grammy winner reflects on the special golden years when her career was taking off. (See the situation moodily dramatized by Gwyneth Paltrow,here.) Their tumultuous relationship and eventual breakup 12 years later inspired songs like Im the Only One. lang, Rosie ODonnell, and Ellen DeGeneres. It was weird, she adds. For a time there it was me, k.d. lang, Rosie, Ellen. A lot of power there. A lot of interesting stories....

28 I really, really wanted to start a family. That was my new career move. In 1990, life looked very differentfor Michelle Yeoh. But after several failed attempts, Yeoh discovered that having children wasnt in the cards. If multiverses exist, perhaps theres a world where Yeoh never returned to the screen. But luckily, were not in that one. Take me back to 1990, when you were 28. Oh my God, that was a long time ago....

28 The actor had relocated from Australia to pursue acting, but hadnt yet landed a breakout role. At first, Watts seemed to be on the fast track to success. So I met a lot of great people. I actually already knew Nicole, but we all became friends really good friends on that. I was over in America, far away from where I was raised. I just felt displaced. Twenties is really young, you don’t have to have it all figured out....

28 Timemagazine dubbed her Queen of the Indies and Posey was living life to the fullest. Parker Posey is into full-circle moments. it’s possible for you to see the crazy quilt. Poseys life as a scrappy star not that she considered herself famous in any capacity was all-consuming. By the time I hit 30, I was like, Oh, theres still more? Below, Posey talks impostor syndrome, swing dancing with famous friends, and why she likes getting older....

28 TheGreat British Bake Offjudge had a pivotal year before opening her first restaurant. But she wasnt wanting for a hobby in 1968. The chef was busy preparing to open Leiths, her first restaurant, located in LondonsNotting Hillneighborhood. So I wanted to have a really good restaurant but with the informality of a bistro or a pub. [Id be] flipping the burgers or organizing the pig roast, she says. I would be the one sweeping the bloody floor in the middle of the night....