Comments on: Jessica Chastain Says Russell Crowe Got “His Foot Stuck In His Mouth” About Ageism And Actresses

By: Jenny

Jenny — Mon, 23 May 2016 04:34:29 +0000

The roles are not being WRITTEN for older women. Period. A forty year old man is usually cast opposite a 20 year old woman. Not realistic and kinda gross. Women 35-50 have no place in Hollywood unless writers create roles for them.

By: Silvana D'Abate

Silvana D'Abate — Mon, 23 May 2016 04:34:29 +0000

I feel that in this subject matter age-ism is a real issue period in Hollywood, regardless of gender, our society is vain and when we think of portraying actors in films what do executives, producers, writers consider first? $$ who’s profitable on screen! How much deniro will this actor/actress draw in. Its horrible because we need to look at better screenplays, better characters with all ages required! and your acting abilities should be looked at and then plastic surgury and the scrutiny of actresses going under the knife would be irrelevant in Hollywood.

By: Reall

Reall — Mon, 23 May 2016 04:34:29 +0000

Chastain is an admirable advocate, but Crowe is actually more correct in this debate. There aren\’t a bunch more male actors in their 50s/60s getting good roles; great roles have dried up period. For every Glenn Close or Jessica Lange or Angela Bassett or whomever not getting great film roles, there\’s a William Hurt or Jeremy Irons or Laurence Fishburne doing the same bit parts or TV work. The racial disparity in Hollywood is a much bigger problem than this merely assumed gender imbalance.

By: Omar

Omar — Mon, 23 May 2016 04:34:29 +0000

I think Crowe\’s main point wasn\’t that there are plenty of roles for older women (there clearly aren\’t). I think he was trying to say that for older women to want to land roles written for 20 year-olds is unrealistic. Now some may say "well they should be able to play those roles-it\’s ageism." Is it racism for white actors to not be considered for slave roles? How about a 20 ear old being turned down for the part of a 12 year old? It\’s astonishing how the fanaticism so rampant in our culture surrounding sex and gender has warped reason and good sense. If there aren\’t enough roles for older women then get on the writers and creative people to write more roles for them.

By: David

David — Mon, 23 May 2016 04:34:29 +0000

@omar, i think your example is a little off. There actually were white slaves. That is assuming you label the irish and other poor european immigrants under the "white" label.

By: RJ

RJ — Mon, 23 May 2016 04:34:29 +0000

I don\’t think anyone is calling a reluctance to cast a 50-year-old as a 22-year-old "age-ism"; the age-ism is the fact that the female speaking parts in films (less than 1/3 of all speaking roles in films released between 2010 and 2013, by the way) skew so heavily young on the page, effectively further limiting the capacity of actresses over 40 to consistently work. In this scenario, it is entirely rational behavior to employ whatever means are at one\’s disposal (e.g. plastic surgery) to extend the time period in which one remains a viable, "cast-able" candidate. It\’s not a simple matter of just deciding to "act their age" — they can\’t do that if the parts aren\’t there, no matter what they look/act like.

By: Patricia Nolan

Patricia Nolan — Mon, 23 May 2016 04:34:29 +0000

I\’ve said this many times before; Crowe played a 19-year-old college student in A Beautiful Mind when he was 36/37 years old, so I guess he thinks his rules apply only to him. His statement is pure hogwash. As Chastain says, if he went to the movies and tried looking for older women in older women roles (instead of blabbing his head off so much on Twitter), he would see how off-kilter his statement is.

By: ELBA

ELBA — Mon, 23 May 2016 04:34:29 +0000

There are some great roles out there for older women in the indie world. I have several friends who\’ve had to abandon projects 3M+ because they can\’t cast. The fact is, they won\’t do anything unflattering or act their age. Where are the new Ellen Burstyns taking a chance on the new Aronofskys? They have their legacies and they take forever to read and decide, and they won\’t work for scale. Older men won\’t either. Everybody wants it to be the way it was…and it\’s not. Meanwhile the theatrical audience is aging and wants good content. Crowe is right. More women just need to say yes.

By: Jorge Ber-Percivale

Jorge Ber-Percivale — Mon, 23 May 2016 04:34:29 +0000

I think today Hollywood has a fixation with youth , guns and sex . Fewer good roles for both male and female is a fact ; we live in a society that included roles models such us The Kardashian family and that say it trash sale

By: Ronald

Ronald — Mon, 23 May 2016 04:34:29 +0000

Men and women age differently. It\’s science folks. That said, there\’s plenty of older actresses working consistently and there\’s plenty of great middle age actors not getting good work.

By: Chump

Chump — Mon, 23 May 2016 04:34:29 +0000

Getting old, the press trying to paint Crowe in a certain negative way. Anyone who bothers to dig a bit, seems a nice good hearted generous bloke. There was a sentence in a magazine. With no further explanation we have no way of judging his thoughts because it was incomplete. I doubt Russell Crowe is so ignorant he would blatantly want to piss people off. Since he is an intelligent man would like to hear the rest of it.

By: Omar

Omar — Mon, 23 May 2016 04:34:29 +0000

@David, I think you know what I meant by "slave" but let me clarify. "For a white actor to not be considered for a role as a slave on a plantation in the southern United States during the days of slavery" is what I meant.

@RJ – I think alot of people think it\’s ageism to not cast older women in roles that most audiences would only find younger women believable in. It sucks that there aren\’t more roles for older women. But part of life is understanding that we change both physically and mentally as we grow older and that leads to changes in how people regard us and respond to us. That has always been true and always will be. The solution isn\’t to try to prevent the inevitable. Do you know any middle aged guys that don\’t want to date a 20 year old girl? They don\’t because most 20 year olds don\’t want to date some creepy old guy. Rather than chase after them, they should learn to value their maturity and wisdom. The only solution for the parts for older women problem is for more parts to be written for older women. That\’s do-able. Pressure can be put on studios (especially by stars given that it\’s a star driven industry). It\’s sad to me what people do to themselves in the vain attempt to stay beautiful.

By: Omar Khan

Omar Khan — Mon, 23 May 2016 04:34:29 +0000

@David: Ok I should have said "for white actors to not be considered for roles of slaves on a plantation in the deep south in the US during the days of slavery."

By: DougW

DougW — Mon, 23 May 2016 04:34:29 +0000

I think it\’s true what Tina or Amy said at the Globes about there being plenty of great roles for "Meryl Streeps over forty." I am amazed sometimes watching films where there are about 100 speaking roles and only 4 are women.

By: Omar

Omar — Mon, 23 May 2016 04:34:29 +0000

@RJ: I think alot of people think it\’s ageist for older women not to get roles that most audiences would have a hard time believing them in. Look it sucks there aren\’t more roles for older women. But trying to stay physically young is foolish-you\’ll have to face the music sometime, just like we all do. Part of life is accepting that as we age people are going to respond to us differently. It\’s as true for women as it is for a middle aged guy that wants to date a 20 year old girl-most girls that age don\’t want to date some creepy old guy. Rather than chase after younger girls, he should learn to appreciate the maturity, wisdom and peace of mind that comes with age. There has to be pressure put on the studios to write more roles for older women, that\’s the bottom line. For 50 year old women to want to play a role that audiences will only accept a 20 year old in, isn\’t reasonable.

By: jd

jd — Mon, 23 May 2016 04:34:29 +0000

The only real option is for actresses and urge underrepresented groups to use their clout and money to create production companies or at least back films and projects that meet their desired roles.

By: Silvana D\'Abate

Silvana D\'Abate — Mon, 23 May 2016 04:34:29 +0000

I feel that in this subject matter age-ism is a real issue period in Hollywood, regardless of gender, our society is vain and when we think of portraying actors in films what do executives, producers, writers consider first? $$ who\’s profitable on screen! How much deniro will this actor/actress draw in. Its horrible because we need to look at better screenplays, better characters with all ages required! and your acting abilities should be looked at and then plastic surgury and the scrutiny of actresses going under the knife would be irrelevant in Hollywood.

By: Len

Len — Mon, 23 May 2016 04:34:29 +0000

Clearly there are not enough roles in certain age groups for women. If you don\’t see that you\’re just an idiot. However that is never going to change unless the women do their part to make it change. They have to force themselves into positions of power and then create those roles and stories. Men are never going to do it for them. And Russell Crowe should be a bit more careful.

By: Ulysses

Ulysses — Mon, 23 May 2016 04:34:29 +0000

They are both right. Balance is needed in the entertainment business. But it wont happen because youth is bringing in more cash than the older. Unfortunately, this bias and prejudice is rubbing off on the rest of the coutry (USA) which is why unemployement is high. Teens don\’t really NEED jobs, and they can go without paper work saying they don\’t have work. Adults do, even the most basic entry level jobs, which many adults are looking for. Back to Hollywood, it is a business, and millions are at stake. Yet, I am sure parts can be written where both older and younger and everything in between can be worked out. Movies like Avengers and their singular counterparts, Justice League, otther well known fantasies, myths, science fiction and such types, will do well no matter who is in them. Studios want money-money-money, and tend to believe only young people can do the job, when whats really needed for everyone to be happy is a Good writer–backed up by studios and directors and producers.