The 40 year old Hollywood actress: Over the hill (on a broomstick) or flying high?

The 40 year old Hollywood actress: Over the hill (on a broomstick) or flying high?


Meryl Streep has said of the time when she turned 40, that she suddenly started just being offered roles as witches. As an “older” woman in Hollywood, it was as if she and women of her age were considered “grotesque” and no longer appropriate for normal roles. She told her husband at the time “it’s over”.

Times, however, may be changing for women in Tinseltown. The film industry, which is famously considered ageist and sexist, has seen a shift in recent years which is becoming known as the “revenge of the over 40s actress”. Nine of the top ten earning actresses last year were 37 or older. Further, a recent survey showed that the most popular and well-recognised Hollywood actresses were Sandra Bullock, 48, Julia Roberts, 45 and Meryl Streep, 63. The female A-list is showing definite signs of ageing.

It seems that whilst younger actresses are continually coming through, and indeed the highest paid actress of last year was 23 year old Kristen Stewart, she was the youngest on the top ten list by 14 years.

The Hollywood Reporter said that the movie studios’ “youth-obsessed climate has begun to thaw, paving the way for what would have been impossible only a decade ago a female film star born after age 40.”

The paper suggested two possible explanations. Firstly, studios’ fixation on franchise films has meant older actresses carrying roles through from one hit to another, and secondly, surveys show that younger stars such as Jennifer Lawrence, 22, and Kristen Stewart, 23, lag behind older actresses such as Bullock by a huge margin when it comes to popularity.

Finally, the Reporter was keen to stress “older women just look better these days.” It’s difficult to deny that the thirty/forty something Hollywood A-list actresses pretty much all have bodies that women of all ages would kill for. Clearly they are all well aware that a roll of fat or small wrinkle could be career suicide and these are promptly eliminated through blood, sweat and perhaps just a touch of botox.

In any event, whatever is keeping these older actresses at the top of their game, it is great news to see them there. Although there is no doubt we live in a youth-obsessed society, there is no substitute for wisdom and experience. And it seems that the workplace (beyond the entertainment industry) is also seeing a shift in the number of older workers in it. The Office for National Statistics said in research out yesterday that the number of people aged 65 and over has hit 1 million for the first time ever. This has been driven in large part by more people staying on in their roles after hitting the now-defunct default retirement age.

Therefore things seem to be changing for older people. Whilst those outside of Hollywood may in large part only be continuing to work because of economic reasons, there appears to be a shift in perception, with the Government now focusing on the benefits of older workers. It said yesterday that society needs older people in employment, suggesting that Britain is running out of workers, with 13.5million vacancies predicted in the next decade, but only 7million young people due to leave school and college. Ministers believe the gap can be filled by older people staying in the workplace for longer. So from Tinseltown to Poundland, we are likely to see increasing number of older people in work in the coming years, whether on screen or something perhaps a little less glamorous. It seems that no more broomsticks are required, except of course for those with cleaning jobs, oh and for Meryl, who appears to have landed herself another role as a witch!