Goldie Hawn’s role in The First Wives Club summed it up best. “She’s only three ages for women in Hollywood: Baby, District Attorney, or Driving Miss Daisy.”
That was nearly 30 years ago, and the conversation is still ongoing.
Hollywood, the land of airbrushed perfection, has always had issues with aging, and it’s reflected in who wins what at the big awards. For decades, there has been an age gap between Oscar actors and actresses, with veteran male stars being touted, while for women, it was usually young “geniuses” who collected the gong.
In recent years, there has been a lot of talk about changes in the industry, but are changes actually occurring?
Sky News analysis oscar If you look at performance in acting categories over a 10-year period, you’ll see that there’s always been a gap between the average age of female winners and the average age of male winners.
However, the Everything Everywhere All At Once star’s victory has been cemented following the results of the recent ceremony. Michelle Yeoh (currently 61 years old) and jamie lee curtis By 2023 (currently 65 years old) – the average age gap narrowed for the first time last year.
What happens when you focus on your single years?
The graph above shows the average age over a 10-year period to show when trends emerge, but the differences are often even more pronounced when single years are considered.
For example, in 2000, there was a 24-year age difference between her and Hilary Swank (winner for Best Actress), who was 25 at the time. Angelina Jolie (Best Supporting Actress) was small. However, in the comparable male category, the difference was almost 30 years. kevin spacey (40 years old at the time, Best Actor) and Michael Caine (67 years old, Best Supporting Actor). This means that the average age difference for both male and female categories for that year was 29 years.
In 2013, the average age difference was 29.5 years. jennifer lawrence The female acting award went to Daniel Day-Lewis (age 22 at the time) and Anne Hathaway (age 30), while the men’s trophy went to Daniel Day-Lewis (age 55) and Christoph Waltz (age 56). I made it.
That’s not to say that the opposite doesn’t happen from time to time. In 1990, the age difference between actors was 29 years, but this time the average age difference for women is even higher. Winner? Daniel Day-Lewis and Denzel Washington (age 32 and 35 at the time). Brenda Fricker (45) and Jessica Tandy (80) – Interestingly, for her performance in Driving Miss Daisy.
At the 1995 Oscar Awards, this is the only time The average age of women is more than 20 years older than the average age of men, and vice versa 14 times. Horn has a point.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, honoring older men and younger women became especially widespread in the 1990s and 2000s. In the 20 years from 1990 to 2009, the average age of female winners was older than male winners only three times.
However, over the past 10 years, there have been five years in which the average age of women was higher, and five years in which the average age of men was higher.
equality!
Well, not completely. If things go as expected this year, the two male winners will be on average about 16 years older than the two female stars, although last year the women were on average nine and a half years older. It’s for men.
It’s too early to say Hollywood has turned a corner, but after years of discussion about the need to improve and diversify roles for women of all ages on screen, the data certainly shows promise. ing.
“In the ’60s, I never saw other women.”
jodie foster She was just 12 years old when she controversially played a child prostitute in Martin Scorsese’s 1976’s Taxi Driver, co-starring Robert De Niro. This film earned her her first Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress at the age of 14, making her one of the youngest nominees. Until now.
She won the Academy Award for Best Actress twice, in 1989 and 1992, for The Accuser and The Silence of the Lambs, both before she turned 30, and more than 30 years later. Now, she has won the Best Supporting Actress award again for “The Silence of the Lambs”. Her performance in Nyad. In the film, Annette Bening (nominated for Best Actress) stars as Diana Nyad, an endurance swimmer who, at age 60, decides to repeat the grueling 110-mile swim from Cuba to Florida that she was unable to complete when she was younger. Foster plays her friend and trainer. Bonnie Stoll.
read more:
Nyad’s real-life trainer talks about how Jodie Foster nailed the role
Ms Foster, 61, says the industry has come a “long way” since she started appearing in ads as a child in the 1960s. “I’ve been in this industry for 58 years,” she told Sky News. “When I first started working in the ’60s, I never saw other women…sometimes women who played mothers, sometimes makeup artists, but mostly , it was actually a completely male-only environment.
“That has changed little by little, but [female] Technicians came in, female producers came in, and now, in America, we’ve just recently had female directors. That’s the last bastion of change, and now we have more women directors…I’ve certainly seen that change. ”
“It was a completely male-only environment.”
The actress recently appeared in the latest season of the popular series True Detective, in which she stars as a police chief alongside state trooper Kali Reis, who investigates the mysterious disappearances from an Alaskan research base. is being investigated.
Foster, who has “played strong women all her life,” says the show’s two leading female characters shouldn’t make headline news, but what has changed for women on screen is the way their characters develop. “The complex world has not always been the exclusive domain of women. We have been the mothers of…, the sisters of…, the prostitutes. As we all know, women have put in a lot of effort. We’ve spent a lot of time, and we’re taking the time to flesh out the female characters in the industry.”
“You don’t pay us that much, but we still have some influence.”
british actress olivia colmanShe won the Best Actress Oscar for her role as Queen Anne in The Favourite in 2019 and is currently starring in the mystery comedy Wicked Little Letters, but things are looking up for her. He says there is still a way to go.to the role and pay.
“Let’s fight for that journey,” she told Sky News. “More than half of the world’s population is women. Like everyone, we are interested in seeing ourselves reflected in stories. No matter where you come from, we want to see ourselves reflected in stories. I hope it will be reflected.
“When you’re 31, you don’t stop watching TV, you still want to see movies and stories and plays. And even though you’re not paying us as much, you still have some influence on us. There is power. So don’t underestimate it, ladies! “
“Not just Meryl Streep, but more great roles.”
Film critic Anna Smith, co-host of the podcast Girls on Film, said Hollywood has a history of casting young women alongside older male stars.
“While getting older can make you a sexy George Clooney, women can have a hard time getting a job, even in their 40s. Once you reach a certain age, you’re stuck for a bit of a few decades. I know there are actresses who say, ‘Because women have to play the mother role or wait and play the grandmother role. There aren’t as many meaty roles for women of all ages as there should be. It’s so commonplace. ”
However, Smith believes that while there is still work to be done to level the playing field, there has definitely been a change in the past decade, particularly since the rise of the #MeToo and Time’s Up movements.
“There are more great roles for older actresses and different actresses. There are a few more roles for everyone, not just Meryl Streep. Look at Frances McDormand in Nomadland. [in 2021]…she gives a great performance, and [it was] It’s great to be recognized at the Oscars and so many other ceremonies.”
However, there is one thing she does point out about Everywhere All At Once. “Originally the central role was thought for Jackie Chan, but then they flipped it on its head. And what we’ve actually seen a lot in recent years is for movies that were well-received at the Oscars, etc. When you get a strong female character, it’s about having a complex.” Female characters were often designed for men, but…
“I have mixed feelings about that. On the one hand, it’s great that people are willing to be so tolerant right now, but let’s wait a second and check our own biases here. Why is this role given to a man when it should be given to a man?” It’s great to challenge your own biases, but it also suggests that the complex roles of women aren’t specifically written. . for woman. “
So what do you need to do?
“I think there needs to be more investment in independent films, and I think people need to look at the Hollywood machine,” Smith says. “I think anyone working in the area of diversity within a large studio has the potential to make a real impact and make a difference.
“The more people of different ages, ethnicities, and backgrounds work in the world of film and are open-minded and challenge their own biases, the more interesting and complex older characters emerge. But… I also want people to stop judging women by certain standards. In Hollywood, people have to have cosmetic surgery at a certain age to conform to some unrealistic beauty standards. I think there is still a real problem that some women feel pressured to do.
“I think this problem is hopefully going away a little bit. When you look at people like Jamie Lee Curtis, she looks like a normal woman her age, but it’s incredible. .I would love to see more of that.”
It feels like Hollywood has moved on from the days of Babe, District Attorney, and Driving Miss Daisy, at least when you look at recent Oscar performances.
Now, Tinseltown needs to continue allowing women to age on screen just as much as men, gracefully or not.
