She had grown older. And he loved her more now than he had loved her when he understood her better, when she was the product of her parents. What she was now was what she herself had decided to become.
It doesn't matter if a character is a lawyer, a cop or a geography teacher. If there's a story in there, where the character has a passion and a fire in his belly and story to tell, then it's enough for an actor to get excited about.