Hollywood Is Mean To Older Women. Let's Help Them With A Chart!
Monday, October 21, 2013 at 1:00PM 
The news about Laura Dern playing Reese Witherspoon's mother made me giggle at first this weekend since she's the right age to play her big sister. But the more I thought of it the more it bugged me. Especially since it came hot on the heels of realizing that Tilda Swinton, who turns 53 in a week or two, had the role originally designed for the legendary Angela Lansbury (who is 88) in Grand Budapest Hotel. To add insult to injury, Alex reminded me on Twitter that Susan Sarandon will be playing Melissa McCarthy's grandmother in the upcoming comedy Tammy. Sarandon is just 24 years older than McCarthy which would make her a fairly young mother of the star but a grandmother? That means she and her fictional daughter were knocked up as pre-teens. Gross!
None of this should be miscontrued as me not enjoying myself some Dern, Sarandon and Swinton! But all of this reminds me that Sally Field, ten years senior to Tom Hanks, played his mother in Forrest Gump just six years after rejecting him romantically in Punchline. That's misogynist Hollywood's version of karmic punishment, right?! [more]
(Remarkably Hollywood forgave her, allowing her to be Mrs Daniel Day-Lewis in Lincoln despite being eleven years older)
So herewith a helpful chart for Hollywood's mathematically averse casting directors of which underemployed actresses they might consider next time they're looking for the mother or grandmothers of today's leading men and women (instead of the people who get cast who are of sibling-appropriate age) and/or looking for underexplored talents to surprise us with. Regarding the latter, there's no hard evidence that people forget how to act when they aren't working a lot or are working an endless series of thankless small roles, that can't be countered with examples of people getting lazy who are working a lot. So let's not count people out just because we haven't seen them in awhile. At least let's see if any of these women have one more great performance in them, shall we?
mid to late 40s roles
Next time you can't afford the Kidmans, the Roberts, or the Bullocks. Next time you can't get MLP or Linney, or are ready to look beyond the supporting mainstays like Diane Lanes, Viola Davises or Maria Bellos (all frequently employed thank god), and you need a vivid lady to play mom to today's Efrons, Woodley's, Lawrences, Jordans or an age-appropriate wife for once for the Crowes, Owens, Ruffalos, Harrelsons, Smiths, and Clooneys of the world, what about...
From Left to Right: Illeana Douglas, Olivia Williams (who is working a lot but not regularly in the caliber of roles she deserves), Rachel Griffiths (who surely has another Hilary & Jackie in her), Carrie Anne-Moss, Mo'Nique (don't let that go to waste Hollywood... even if she herself is resistant), Kristin Straten Bauer (isn't anyone else dying to know what she can do outside of True Blood where she regularly tears the place up), Kimberly Elise (perhaps the LEAST employed of all stellar actresses her age), Penelope Ann Miller, Michelle Yeoh, Rosie Perez (still hilarious when playing herself!), Embeth Davidtz (like Elise & Williams the talent begs for better roles), and Gina Gershon (reliably fun no matter where the films land on the art to trash scale!)
50something
When Hollywood needs a leading or supporting lady in her 50s they... haha, sorry, that sentence is delusional because Hollywood pretends they never do. I personally think this is the toughest age bracket for actresses. They're too young for the showy "Dame" roles and too old (generally speaking) for the way Hollywood tends to cast moms and wives (i.e. much younger than what you'd see in real life). For now any role for an actress in her 50s will undoubtedly be offered to The Bening or Julianne Moore first and second (or vice versa). And with good reason. These Actresses Are (Better Than) All Right. But beyond Moore and Bening who is there? The movies only seems interested in a handful: Tilda, Kristin, Emma & Michelle (when they express interest), and in supporting roles Hollywood is still hot for the Leos, Janneys and maybe the Hardens and Clarksons and the McDormands though the pickings are getting slimmer for everyone BUT Leo & Janney for some reason.
There are so many who can wow if you cast them right and are willing to ignore that Hollywood has (temporarily) lost interest. I say temporarily because the history of the movies shows us time and again that actors who were once deemed "over" can suddenly rise again, newly invigorating and interesting to the public. All it takes (heh) is that difficult combo of right project + smart casting director + agent and/or creative team who happens to really believe in the actor. So what about these women who could play moms to the today's Goslings, Williams, Levitts, and Hathaways, or age-appropriate wives to the Bridges, Neesons, Penns, Firths, and Washingtons if Hollywood won't bother to build damn films around THEM as one should!
Left to Right: Holly Hunter (one of the greats... don't leave her with nothing to do!), Joan Allen (she's gone back to theater but the movies still need her), Mimi Rogers (really? cameos in Hope Springs is all you got for her. That miracle performance in The Rapture went unnoticed even at the time), Jennifer Tilly (still funny), Geena Davis (weirdly abandoned by the time she was 40 after only a couple of flops...as if all her hits hadn't happened!), Lolita Davidovich (popped up on Bunheads recently and was so engaging I couldn't wait to see what the second season did with her. And then cancellation! SNIFFLE), Julie White (awesome on stage, and vivid in tiny parts in blockbusters), Miranda Richardson (currently seems to be stuck in all of the cartoon roles that are too small for Helena Bonham-Carter. This must end), Angela Bassett (AHS Coven proves there's still life in her beyond "concerned and noble mother/colleague"), Joan Chen, Janet McTeer (so great so recently in Albert Nobbs), La Pfeiffer, Donna Murphy (riveting on stage but Hollywood still confused about her apparently), Mary Steenburgen (a delight from her Oscar win onwards but it seems like Alison Janney gets every role that she OR Steenburgen would be a great fit for), Lesley Manville (who deserved plentiful attention post-Another Year), and Catherine O'Hara who we still see from time to time but haven't comedy directors noticed that she has way more free time now that Christopher Guest quit making movies!?
This is just scratching the surface!
From ages 60 on up every part is going to Meryl Streep or a "Dame" from across the pond... despite roughly 1,000 very capable and even semi-famous living actresses waiting around for the third act of their career to begin already. One wonders (in optimistic moments) if filmmakers would be interested in Weaver, Close, or Lange again post television leading lady reinventions or whether their new generation of TV fans would follow them back to the big screen? I'm doubtful either way but I'd better stop or we'll be here all day...
Reader Comments (52)
Such a great reminder of so many brilliant actresses.
I always get so annoyed at the too-young girlfriends, I never pay attention to the too-young moms!
So, as much as I wasn't crazy about Don Jon, I'll give credit to the casting of the under-employed, delightful and 100% age-appropriate Glenne Headly as JGL's mother.
I don't know.... I feel that this (not new) "trend" of casting parents younger than they ought to is more than Hollywood being mean to men, and not just a Hollywood thing either. I mean, in the case of FORREST GUMP for example Field is playing his mother from when he was a child making it less a case of her being believably cast as someone that older than Hanks.
I mean, I do think there is a legitimate issue of knowing how to utilise older performers - especially women - excellently and it's a shame because so many of them are so full of talent but I'm not not certain I'm willing to indict performers playing roles that skew older (or younger) emphatically because that's the whole point of acting, the issue of being cast perfectly to age re parents movies usually doesn't bother me as much (especially if the make-up works) doesn't bother me as much as the gnawing annoyance I feel at male love-interests being so significantly older than the women opposite them especially when there's no attempt to age one of them up or down (like SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK).
The end-all from considering this, though, is not so much sexism I feel as it's just lack of originality and imagination from casting directors / actors. An actor gets picked for all good roles if they're hot regardless of if they read well for the part in personality or in age. Because, actually, it's not Dern who's injudiciously cast in WILD (her character, the lead's mother, died in her mid forties) but Withersppon since Cheryl Strayed wrote her novel about the self-discovery journey she took when she was 26.
But, casting is hard I suppose.
I just love the repeat mentions of Allison Janney's gainful employment, which is always okay by me.
Casting isn't as creative a job that we feel it is theoretically. Hollywood strong-arms these people from seeing anyone outside of young PR prospects and cronyism (men working till old-age).
I don't know if any sentence has ever made me as angry as that news about Susan Sarandon/Melissa McCarthy. Are you KIDDING me Hollywood?? Annie Savoy has still got it! Why are you ignoring how volcanically hot she still is?? Grandma????
It irks me a lwhen Melissa Leo gets a meaty role in Prisoners that she was about 15 yrs too young for then totally ham/mess it up just 'cos she won an Oscar and is THE supporting actress of the moment,i kept picturing Weaver in that role.
You know the first thing I did with this article was skim it to make sure my girl Marcia was mentioned. I'm looking out for you, Marcia! So happy she's going to be in Woody Allen's next film.
This is a great list, though. And I completely agree on casting Susan as McCarthy's grandmother - I love them both, I would love to see them in a film together, but I couldn't believe it when I found out about that project. There are so many great older actresses who might be fun to team up with McCarthy (even someone like Betty White was terrific in The Proposal).
J U D Y
D A V I S
I want Rachel Griffiths in everything. Glad to hear she has a least a small role in "Saving Mr. Banks." Her time on "Six Feet Under" has endeared me to her permanently.
But, y'all please don't bash Melissa Leo. Have you seen Francine? We' re talking about one the greatest actress of the last 30 years who happens to be a ham a lot of times, but her greatest performances are absolutely stunning. Of course people will go on keep casting her, because you never when she'll deliver her true genius.
GREAT article, Nathaniel! I often wonder with older actresses if the lack of screen presence truly does derive from Hollywood's near-sightedness or if it is a conscious effort by the actresses to work less as they get older. Making movies is by all accounts an exhausting process so it makes sense that as actors get older they might want to take a step back. As much as I would love to see more of nearly every actress you mention here, we must not think only of ourselves! ;-)
Diane Lane in Man of Steel was a crazy idea, and they made her look like a grandma!
By the way Shirley MacLaine was initially cast as Melissa McCarthy's grandmother in Tammy, but later dropped out. I think they should've cast Debbie Reynolds, Elaine Stritch, Angela Lansbury or even Betty White instead of Sarandon, who's a very odd choice. Allison Janney as McCarthy's mother is also a rather strange casting.
It irks me a lwhen Melissa Leo gets a meaty role in Prisoners that she was about 15 yrs too young for then totally ham/mess it up just 'cos she won an Oscar and is THE supporting actress of the moment,i kept picturing Weaver in that role.
Leo wants to work. Weaver is probably more selective with the slim pickings she has to begin with. For Leo to survive she must play everything a character actress would be in demand to play. She works because there's no point in pretending that Hollywood is interested in empowering her after an Oscar win. Especially in a category which generally signifies someone is being shut out for the foreseeable until television or the stage resurrects them.
By the way I know I should consider Melissa Leo a threat to parts Kathy Bates could play in movies. But I honestly see the true threats as your precious Jacki Weaver and that Margo Martindale. Bates needs a second Oscar and the reality is that Sup Actress is the only place with a possibility of happening.
I know Allison Janney seemingly gets every single sassy, sidekick single mom role, in addition to the boozy gal pals and gentle support systems that crowd her filmography, but I still think she's woefully underutilized by Hollywood, at least in the movie industry. She gives so much, even when the film's admittedly shit (i.e. Way, Way Back) and is so deserving of a project that puts her front and center. Her career isn't starved for good roles in the same way that Mary Steenburgen's or Geena Davis' or Joan Allen's is, but it'd be nice to see a performer so surprisingly versatile and with such an archly intelligent and committed screen persona finally get a chance to shine in a movie after being kept to the sidelines for so long.
Also, this piece should be required reading for every single casting director.
It may be of some consolation that Laura Dern is playing a character who passed away when Cheryl Strayed was 22, so her scenes will be referencing flashbacks to Reese's characters memories of her mother.
Anjelica Huston has no upcoming projects on IMDb. Totally unacceptable.
What about CATHERINE KEENER? She was consistently employed for awhile and now it seems like Hollywood is tired of her (outside of Nicole Holofcener who dutifully utilizes her talents). What the hell was up with her role in Captain Phillips? You see her for like two seconds and then it's over....UGH
Emily Watson should also be on this list.
Love the LEOgend but the Fiona SHAW could use some of those roles she's been getting. :/
I could not love this post more.
Meg Tilly, Lynn Whitfield, Greta Scacchi, Amy Irving........and I second Judy Davis.
It's about time Diane Keaton started getting some lead dramatic roles again. Her brilliance is going to waste.
Another one to consider: Camryn Manheim. Brilliant actress.
Look at all those faces...so much character and talent between them. I'll gladly throw Isabelle Adjani onto that list of actresses. I think it's so sad the way Hollywood treats its female stars versus how they treat their male stars. Look at Melissa Leo in a movie like Oblivion where she is relegated to a functionary role next to Tom Cruise (who is in her age group) but has a love interest who is fifteen years his junior. And in The Adjustment Bureau Emily Blunt and Matt Damon are love interests, even though she is significantly younger than him. The double standard gets talked about to death, but would the reverse every be true (a female star with a male love interest ten to fifteen years her junior) without it being a MAJOR plot point in the film. In the book "The Silver Linings Playbook," the character that Jennifer Lawrence played (aptly, though an Oscar is overstating the case) is actually older than the character that Bradley Cooper plays. Hollywood is TERRIFIED of looking at women older than 35, it would seem.
I don't say this to contradict the last point, because everything that was said is true, but The Proposal is a hugely successful film that, while I didn't find it particularly funny or well made, probably deserves credit for pairing up Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds, who have a twelve year age gap. And though Sandra is a huge star again now, I think at the time, she hadn't had a hit in a few years. Though of course, the age gap was acknowledged as a plot point, whereas the multitude of films with an older man-younger woman rarely see it as something worth mentioning.
Hear! Hear! So much talent. There have to be other scripts of "Thelma and Louise" or even "The First Wives Club" out there.
So Pfeiffer doesn't even get a line? ;)
I might be simplifying, but right now Hollywood is only focused in visual effects and marketing strategies. They don't care about casting anymore. They only know how to throw big stars at us or previous Oscar winners. Where are the new Doughertys or Stalmasters? We don't know their names for a reason.
Speaking of casting, I don't want this whole 50 Shades of Grey thing to ever end. It's so much fun to read different candidates almost every single day!
I'm not sure how relevant Laura Dern's actual age is -- or Tilda Swinton's -- in relation to that of the characters they are playing. These are great actors after all: they have a special talent for inhabiting characters and making them come alive. The fact that their biological age makes it implausible for them to be the mothers or grandmothers of the actors who they share the screen with is a red herring. The real question is whether they can convincingly interpret the character. I just wish that there were more older women roles being written and that actresses from all across the age spectrum were salivating to land them. It would be sad if the only roles that an actor could aspire to were those that fall within their biological age range. Try inverting the argument and see how it sounds: should older women be denied the chance to play younger ones simply because of their date of birth? I have no doubt that Judi Dench could convincingly play a middle-aged woman even though she is just a couple years shy of 80. I have no doubt that Barbra Streisand could inhabit the role of Mama Rose in GYPSY! even though biologically she's 71 (she certainly gave a good, if underrated, performance as mother to Seth Rogen in The Guilt Trip, notwithstanding the 40 year age difference). Who cares what age the actors are if they are capable of creating the necessary illusion that allows them to bring characters to life? It is the lack of projects that feature female characters of a certain age that worries me, not the fact that a good actress is being called on to act older than her years.
As for actresses who deserve a shout-out when it comes to casting calls for those "mature woman" roles, let's not forget Janet McTeer, Leslie Manville, Joan Allen, Imelda Staunton, Joan Cusack, Julie Walters,Lena Olin, Amy Irving, Elisabeth Shue, Mare WInnigham, etc. etc. etc. There are so many women capable of playing such a wide variety of older women -- if there were good roles for older women, I am certain none of them would have a problem being cast to play a part that required them to inhabit a character in her 70s even though none of these women are actually that age.
Great chart.
The first example of "age-confused" casting that came straight away to my mind is Amy Poehler who's 7 years older than Rachel McAdams played her mom in Mean Girls. And then, I remember the craziest of them all: Rachel Griffiths who's 4 years younger than Calista Flockhart played her elder sister in Brothers & Sisters.
But sometimes it happened to male too. Isn't Sean Connery just 12 years older than Harrison Ford? Yet he played his dad in Indy 3.
I think its been going on forever. Think Angela Lansbury as Laurence Harvey's mother in "The Manchurian Candidate," Geraldine Page as Cliff Robertson's (!) mother in JW Coop.
davide -- you're both arguing against my point and making it again. If there are really so few roles and 'who would object to a great actor playing older?/ than you do reallize that ALL of the age appropriate roles are played by younger women. it's math.
i sometimes wonder why it may not occur to Meryl Streep to possibly, as a human being, share some of the choice roles. Just one after another...."Doubt," "The Iron Lady," "Osage County" "Into the Woods" on & on. taking the roles from the stage actresses. It's almost a yawn at this point. why not give glenn close a chance at some of these....or fonda (she got all the plum roles in the 70's. Angelica Houston would be a powerhouse in "Osage" - sissy specek - or jessica lange - she'd be a fantastic venomous / druggy mom 0 or ellen burstyn! .....or even some old b-listers like Marsha Mason or Ann-Margret. there are some other people out there other than meryl streep. my first choice would have been angelica houston or lange.
I am Diane Keaton's biggest fan....and really wish she had a few more "Marvin's Room" 's in her future. the upper middle class wife with shrewish problems - lost dogs, weddings gone amok, etc is really getting tiresome. She's a great star. Maybe an HBO dramady.
I see your point regarding the difficulties that older women face when the few roles that are age-appropriate get snatched up by younger women. That said, the converse is sometimes true. A 60-something Sally Field played the 40ish Mary Todd Lincoln. In addition to the Streisand examples I already gave, a 40ish Streisand played Yentl, who was supposed to be a Yeshiva Boy. Olivia Newton-John and Stockard Channing were in their 30s when they played high schoolers in Grease. A mid-70s Jane Fonda played Nancy Reagan in her early 60s in Lee Daniels' The Butler and Oprah is almost a decade older than Forrest Whitaker, who plays her husband in that movie. So it isn't true that ALL the roles appropriate for older women are played by younger ones. The problem is simply that there aren't enough powerful women in Hollywood: those who are powerful (the Fields, the Streisands, the Oprahs, the Streeps) are able to find projects in part because they are often helping to produce them. It isn't so much that Hollywood is mean to older women; it's mean to women period. This powerlessness also explains why there are so few roles available for women of color. It isn't that white women are stealing all their roles in the way that you argue younger women are hoarding roles that should be going to older actresses. It's simply that those roles are not being written and those projects aren't being underwritten. The focus of anger/resentment shouldn't be on the younger actresses who are being cast in older roles (or on Meryl Streep for taking what's being offered). It should be on a system that doesn't promote stories involving older women in the first place and that penalizes women for acting their age.
"there are only three ages for women in hollywood - babe, district attorney and driving miss daisy”
make that two.
I love that Melissa Leo's getting a lot of work, but yes. Why do they need to age her so much all the time? Also, in Prisoners - it was unnecessary. The ages would have still worked without aging her.
Also, one small nitpick... I'm actually good with Alison Janney getting all the roles ever. Well, no, Hollywood needs more roles so that Janney won't have the TIME to take then all and so the other actresses could get some work too. But Alison Janney! We can't be complaining that she's working. <3
Jamie Lee Curtis. Someone please find her another Dominick and Eugene, Freaky Friday or even a True Lies.
Lisa Kudrow should have a film career.
Glenn Close played Robin Williams mother in world according to garp, she was 4 years older than him. But i think we can forgive that cause that kickstarted Close's career.
Emily Watson, Brenda Blethyn and Minnie Driver need to get some serious roles. They're an absolute joy to watch.
It seems like a bit of a stretch to say Streisand was too old to play Seth Rogen's mother in The Guilt Trip. Their age difference is similar to the age difference between my mom and me, and we're a few years older than the actors. A lot of women have had children at forty, even in the '70s or early '80s.
My goodness! I seriously had forgotten that many of these actresses still exist and that I've enjoyed them in most of the things in which they've been featured.
Mo'Nique, PLEASE come back to the talkies, and I'm not talking about "Soul Plane"/"Phat Girlz" era either. Michelle Yeoh, where have you been? Shorheh Aghdashloo?
Holly Hunter was a delight to watch in Top of the Lake. Which begs the qs, are TV and stage the only medium left for these fantastic actresses to showcase their acting chops and versatility? It revitalized Glenn Close's career with Shield and Damages, and seems to do the same with Jessica Lange's. Alfre Woodard has made a career on television so what a refreshing sight it was to hear she's in 12 years a slave.
MLP (my guess is Mary Louise Parker)? Please, PLEASE don't use abbreviations. It's kind of irritating.
This post needs to be forwarded (or hand-delivered in a letter) to every major casting director at every major studio, honestly. So many good actresses here!
I wish I'd age like the Bassett...and I'm not a woman
In fairness, I believe Laura Dern is playing Reese Witherspoon's mother only in flashbacks. So the closeness in age makes sense.
Thank you for such a great piece! As a mature female performer for 20 years I am well aware of how little opportunity there is for me. The really sad thing is having a successful career in entertainment has become a detriment for finding a "regular job" . Nobody wants an older female in a acting role, and they think because you've spent most of your life performing you can't or won't do well in a "regular job".