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If there's one thing you're guaranteed to see on a Cannes red carpet, it's supermodels.

No one is entirely sure why they're there, but they're always there. Bella Hadid, Adriana Lima, Candice Swanopoel, and a roll-call of other Victoria's Secret alumni; hot young things in body-hugging dresses, sparkling and cinched-in and ready for a photo op.

But this year, in a single appearance, Helen Mirren pulled the proverbial red rug out from under them.

Attending the screening ofMother and Son,the Dame shimmied past photographers in a silver Jenni Packham gown, whipping her long ponytail back and forth as she greeted her co-star Andie MacDowell.

The hair and make-up were, as the kids say, snatched. The confidence was infectious. Not only did she look like the human embodiment of the fire emoji, she was having the time of her life. The message?Sex appeal has no age limit. I'm walking proof.

Helen Mirren is 76.

Days later, Sharon Stone, another cinema veteran, attended theElvispremiere in a red Dolce and Gabbana gown complete with the coolest styling touch,Top Gun-inspired tinted aviators.

Boom.

While neither of these women are strangers to being sexy - hello, it's Sharon Stone - what does feel new is the way female actors in their 60s, 70s and beyond are finally being given the floor, rather than fading into the background.

Last year, as we all binge-watched season two of Emily in Paris, it was French actor Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu, who plays marketing boss Sylvie, that blew up social media with her scene-stealing hotness - never mind Emily, Camille and the other ingenues, we all wanted to be like Sylvie.

At Paris Fashion Week, an outfit 59-year-old Leroy-Beaulieu wore went viral: she was braless, which is tres French of course, but the look made headlines because it was shamelessly sexy, and in a world where women "of a certain age" have historically been aged out of Hollywood, this one demanded attention.