TV Badass grandmas in TV and movies By EW Staff Updated on November 1, 2022 08:50AM EDT Trending Videos Close this video player 01 of 12 The coolest grandmas you know Alfeo Dixon/Lionsgate; Netflix; Helen Sloan/HBO Forget the stereotype of an apron-clad grandma baking cookies and playing bingo—today's grandmas are looking for a little more excitement! And, on TV and in movies, they're virtually unstoppable. Whether inventing the perfect sex toy for seniors like the titular friends on Grace and Frankie or poisoning an enemy as Lady Olenna did on Game of Thrones, there's no telling what your favorite on-screen family matriarch is capable of. Keep clicking to see more badass grandmas in pop culture. 02 of 12 Laurie Strode: Halloween (2018) Ryan Green/Universal Pictures Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) is not your average granny. It may have been decades since she survived the murderous clutches of Michael Myers on Halloween, but one thing hasn't changed over the years: She's still a fighter. And, in Halloween (2018), when the infamous serial killer escapes the mental institution where he's being held and comes for her, she's ready for him. As Laurie, Curtis sinks her teeth into a fierce character who gets to take some very cathartic stabs at Michael (pun intended), and the film's denouement calls on all three generations of Strode women to band together to end Michael's tyranny. And if there's one thing better than a badass woman, it's three badass women, all working together. —Lauren Huff 03 of 12 Madea Simmons Lionsgate Tyler Perry's signature creation, Mabel "Madea" Simmons is perhaps the definitive "badass grandma." Since her screen debut in Diary of a Mad Black Woman, Madea continuously dispenses life lessons along with her own personal brand of (often violent) justice. Perry created the character as "a cross between my mother and my aunt and watching Eddie Murphy do the Klumps," explaining, "[My mother] would beat the hell out of you but make sure the ambulance got there in time to make sure they could set your arm back." 04 of 12 Lady Olenna Tyrell: Game of Thrones Helen Sloan/HBO Game of Thrones' Tyrell matriarch (Diana Rigg) never sat on the Iron Throne, but she had her own crown: Queen of Shade. The "tart-tongued" Lady Olenna dished out quips the way GoT dished out death—only she could get away with calling Cersei Lannister (Lena Headey) "the famous tart." But her most memorably badass moment came just before her death, when she looked Jaime Lannister (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) straight in the eye and told him she killed his son Joffrey (Jack Gleeson). 05 of 12 Violet, Dowager Countess of Grantham: Downton Abbey Nick Briggs/PBS Of course, if anyone could match Lady Olenna in the snark department, it would be Maggie Smith's witty Dowager Countess Violet Crawley on Downton Abbey. The Countess' zingers were a constant highlight of the British drama ("I'll take that as a compliment." "I must've said it wrong."), and she could still offer a bit of actual wisdom every now and again, always delivered in her typical stiff-upper-lip fashion. 06 of 12 Grace Hanson and Frankie Bergstein: Grace and Frankie Ali Goldstein/Netflix The hit Netflix comedy Grace and Frankie featured not one but two badass grandmas played by screen legends Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin. It followed the titular ladies, unlikely friends brought together by the revelation that their husbands were leaving them because they've fallen in love with each other. Forced to live together in their gorgeous beach house, the duo hilariously navigated their new lives, new friendships, and new love interests, firmly reminding us that age is just a number and life is what you make of it. 07 of 12 Grandma Annie: The Proposal (2009) Everett Collection You didn't need another reason to love Betty White, but we'll give you one anyway. As the mischievous grandma, or "Gammy" Annie, the actress was a scene stealer in 2009's The Proposal starring Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds. Annie isn't your typical grandma—unless your grandma also takes you to see male strippers or fakes heart attacks as a strategy to squash family beef. And, while this scene would not fly today, we have to thank White for giving us this hilarious moment featuring Bullock's rendition of Lil Jon's "Get Low." 08 of 12 Sophia Petrillo: The Golden Girls NBC If we're spotlighting Betty White, we also have to give a shout-out to her former castmate Estelle Getty as Sophia, Dorothy's (Bea Arthur) snarky mother and arguably the funniest of The Golden Girls. Well into her 80s, Sophia was still as sharp as a tack. Her deadpan one-liners were so savage, they made you ask, "Did this tiny old woman really just say that?"—before promptly writing them down so you can use them on your nemeses. Sophia has so many classic quotes, but we're particularly fond of "Your heart's in the right place, but I don't know where the hell your brain is" and "Jealousy is a very ugly thing, Dorothy! And so are you, in anything backless." Zing! 09 of 12 Mary Luckett: Cocoon (1985) Everett Collection Thanks to her exposure to the mysterious alien life force of the Antareans, Mary Luckett (Maureen Stapleton) is a retirement home resident who has youthful energy in spades, can climb trees at will, and has no fear of aliens. And when she and her husband Ben (Wilford Brimley) are confronted with the choice to go with the aliens to Antarea—where they will no longer age and live forever—she takes control of her own destiny fearlessly, like the badass grandma that she is. —L.H. 10 of 12 Lydia Alvarez: One Day at a Time Netflix There was so much to love about Lydia on One Day at a Time—she was hilarious, tough (she literally turned down death in season 2), and she was played by the incomparable Rita Moreno. But what we love about her the most, and what makes her an absolute badass, is her refusal to change her boisterous self for anyone, while also being one of the most loyal, open-minded matriarchs on television. When granddaughter Elena (Isabella Gomez) came out to Lydia, the devout Catholic overcame her homophobia in 30 seconds flat with impressive Bible logic ("Am I going to go against the Pope and God? Who the hell do I think I am?"). If only we could all be as much fun as the salsa-dancing, rum-swigging Lydia when we grow up. 11 of 12 Aurora Greenway: Terms of Endearment (1983) Everett Collection It takes a badass mom to be a badass grandma, as the eccentric Aurora Greenway (Shirley MacLaine) demonstrates in Terms of Endearment. The film follows Aurora's tumultuous relationship with her daughter Emma (Debra Winger) over a 30-year period. Though Aurora often drives her daughter crazy with her overbearing personality and judgmental ways, it's clear Aurora loves her daughter more than anything in the world and always has her back. Whether she's warning Emma against marrying loser Flap (Jeff Daniels) or staying by her side as she battles terminal cancer—screaming at the nurses to "give my daughter the [pain] shot!"—Aurora is a strong-willed woman who always stays true to who she is…even when she finally gives into a romance with her cocky next-door neighbor Garrett (Jack Nicholson). In the ultimate act of selflessness, Aurora agrees to raise her three grandchildren after Emma dies. Now that's badass. So was MacLaine's performance, which earned her the Academy Award for Best Actress in 1984. 12 of 12 Bonnie "Mamaw" Vance: Hillbilly Elegy (2020) Glenn Close in 'Hillbilly Elegy'. Lacey Terrell/NETFLIX In the film adaptation of J.D. Vance's best-selling memoir Hillbilly Elegy, Glenn Close expertly portrays a real-life badass grandma—Mamaw—who steps in to take care of her two grandchildren when her daughter Bev (Amy Adams), struggling with drug addiction, can no longer properly do so. Mamaw's version of grandmotherly love is more the tough kind than hugs and baked goods, but her love for her family is fierce. She'll give you the shirt off her back or the food off her plate, but, cross her or anyone in her family, and she'll come after you faster than you can say "yeehaw!"