The Battle Against Ageism Continues

Gemma Jones, Juliet Stevenson, and Lesley Manville speak out on ageism in movies. From The Mail:

The women accused industry executives of ignoring mature actresses to 'chase young skirt' and said that parts being written tended to be for 'nubile' women under 30.

Miss Jones, 67, the star of Bridget Jones's Diary and the BBC drama Spooks, said: 'I've been incredibly lucky as an older actress, but I am an exception to the rule. We still have our marbles and our energies and experiences but the jobs and roles aren't there.'

It's not industry execs that are at fault. It's the public. These actors are fighting the marketplace not the industry. The average movie-goer is young, between 15 and 30 years old and wants to see action, comedy, horror, or other genre movies with young leads. You (usually) can't sell a drama or any type of movie with older leads (male or female) to this audience.

How many roles are there for women to start with? How many pictures with female leads like 'Salt' get made?

Things are a tad better for older men, but not much. Movies with actors like Bruce Willis or Sylvester Stallone can be cited as proof that older women are grossly discriminated against, but these movies are exceptions to the rule. They are almost always action pics that play in the summer. (What was the last mega-hit drama with an older male [or female] lead - and - what percentage of the number of movies released in year does that represent)? There are only a couple such movies/roles a year -- they are reserved for the biggest stars.

Willis and Stallone are two exceptions out of dozens of actors whose careers stalled after they hit a certain age. Dozens out of thousands of wannabes who never got their careers off the ground in the first place.

How do you sell a screenplay that features an older woman (or man) running around, fighting, jumping off rooftops, shooting a gun and blowing stuff up? Will Angelina Jolie be able to anchor such a movie in 10 or 20 years? Would anybody buy a ticket? While Indy 4 with an aging Harrison Ford could serve to make the point, again, it's an exception -- part of a hugely popular franchise that first featured Ford as a young(er) man -- not a stand-alone example. And, even if Indy 4 wasn't part of a franchise it would still be an exception.

It's the public that ignores mature actors (male or female), not the movie industry. If movies with leads in their 60s and 70s were hot that's all we'd have. The only real chance an older actor has at pinning down roles is to write, direct, and/or produce the movie themselves, or to take supporting roles or be in ensemble pieces.

While battling ageism a laudable cause, it's nearly impossible to change things.