14 DAY TRIAL // The issue of whether actresses past a certain age can still get parts as easily as they did in their prime has often been raised, both by the media and by people in the industry. While most of them would say that it’s harder for them to get roles when they’re older, 50-year-old Andie McDowell comes to state that, for once, women in Hollywood have it just as easy as men, so age is certainly not an issue.
Speaking at a recent UNICEF event in Los Angeles, McDowell, who became the epitome of aging gracefully thanks to a very well-thought L’Oreal campaign, said that that much talk about age in the movie industry was often unfounded. There is no such thing as discrimination against older actresses, Andie McDowell believes, because they too get the same amount of good movie offers like their younger counterparts.
“How do I think the industry’s changed? Films have changed a lot. I think women are finally able to get older just like men. So I’m really enjoying that part – that’s my evolution. I think sometimes we seem to obsess on negativity. I think role models exist, but they usually don’t get the light because people like scandal.” McDowell explained during the event, as quoted by the Daily Express.
While taking a stand in the name of all actresses over 45 is more than admirable on McDowell’s part, critics have not failed to already point out that what she’s vouching comes to contradict what other actresses have said in the past. Of the lot, the example of Faye Dunaway, who still enjoys a great appeal with the public, is the most striking. Last year, the “Bonnie and Clyde” actress stated that Hollywood discriminated older women in that men such as Jack Nicholson and Clint Eastwood got onscreen lovers half their age, while she was stuck with playing only “sisters and mothers.”
On the same note, the movie industry has always been accused of double standards. Just recently, “We Own the Night” stunner Eva Mendes underlined that Hollywood was misogynistic because it tried to create disputes among her and her co-stars in “The Spirit” (Scarlett Johansson and Paz Vega) by spreading false rumors about their relationship on set.