Andie MacDowells imperial phase lasted an all-too-brief seven years, spanning Sex, Lies and Videotape (1989), Green Card (1990), The Object of Beauty (1991), Groundhog Day (1993), Short Cuts (1993), Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994), and Michael (1996).

It was long enough to make her a household name, and short enough to leave folks wondering, What ever happened to that Andie MacDowell? I love her! (To which someone should respond, She was in Magic Mike XXL, duh.)

Its an awkward question to ask: How does it feel to have lost your popularity? But MacDowell is a realist. Being around pesky Hollywood types even though she didnt move to Los Angeles until 2013 has kept her self-aware. She knows she could have had Nicole Kidmans career, but she opted to focus on motherhood instead of chasing after the industrys brightest projects. (MacDowell has three children with former model Paul Qualley.) Now, days away from turning 60, the new drama Love After Love provides one of the finest roles of her life. And who doesnt love a good comeback story?

MacDowell plays a theater teacher who observes her husbands painful death and then grieves alongside her unsettled adult sons (portrayed by Chris ODowd and James Adomian) and their extended family. Intimate and elliptical, the film directed and co-written by Russell Harbaugh lets MacDowell do what she has always done best: look. She is a remarkable conversationalist onscreen, her expressions superseding the words that glide from her mouth, as if her eyes have their own dialogue.

We first saw that wisdom in Sex, Lies and Videotape, when she chuckled naively and covered her face while discussing masturbation. And again in Groundhog Day, when she leaned forward in the diner to describe her ideal man to Bill Murray. Or in Michael, when she winked at William Hurt while singing that silly ditty about pie. But in Love After Love, MacDowells looks are sadder, more inquisitive, reflective of a weathered existence. She wanders alone into a crowded dance party, and into the jittery arms of new relationships, and into the turmoil of domestic infighting. Watching her is like witnessing an actress reborn. How did we ever let that Andie MacDowell slip away?

In person, MacDowells face contains the same multitudes. She is so engaged that her Southern inflections are almost secondary to her attentive brown eyes. When I met MacDowell at her Manhattan hotel last week, the Golden Globe-nominated actress relished the richness of Love After Love, hailed the Me Too groundswell and detailed the peace shes made with the career she didnt fight to maintain.