We love Emma Thompson. Ahead of the release of The Legend Of Barney Thompson, she spoke to the Radio Times and basically told it like it is which is, unfortunately, quite depressing. Apparently, the way Hollywood treats female actors is a lot worse than when she started out. Apparently, we’re actually regressing, and any improvements are negligible. Sigh.
‘I think it’s still completely shit, actually,’ she said, speaking about the lack of opportunities for women in film, as well as the ageism that runs throughout the industry. ‘I don’t think there’s any appreciable improvement and I think that for women, the question of how they’re supposed to look is worse than it was even when I was young. So, no, I’m not impressed at all.’
She continued: ‘When I was younger, I really did think we were on our way to a better world and when I look at it now, it’s in a worse state than I have known it, particularly for women and I find that very disturbing and sad. So I get behind as many young female performers as I can and actually a lot of the conversations I have with them are about exactly the fact that we are facing and writing about the same things and nothing has changed, and that some forms of sexism and unpleasantness to women have become more entrenched and indeed more prevalent.’
Emma’s role in *The Legend Of Barney Thompson *is that of a 77-year-old prostitute, which she says is ‘a bit ageist’ in itself because she’s only 56. ‘It would be really nice to get someone who is actually 77 to play her, but it’s a wildly comic role and I couldn’t resist it.’
Of course she’ll slay it, but that’s not the point. Why are there barely any older actresses getting regular parts? Why do we hound and laugh and point at actresses as they get older, forcing them into insecurity and transformative plastic surgery to cling onto their youthful faces?
It’s impossible to know how to change this bizarre double-standards culture that’s entrenched itself within the movie industry, but we hope it starts to change soon.
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This article originally appeared on The Debrief.