Ryan Murphy is on a quest. Not only is he helping make the director’s chair more inclusive, he’s also making strides to challenge ageism in Hollywood.
Earlier this year, Murphy launched Half, a foundation that “aims to have 50 percent of all director slots on his shows filled by women, people of color, and members of the LGBT community and will begin outreach efforts at colleges to align candidates with mentors.” Half will also participate in extensive outreach efforts at colleges and universities with large film programs, beginning with AFI, UCLA, and USC before expanding around the U.S. later this year. The foundation will team candidates up with mentors within Ryan Murphy Productions.
Now, in a new interview with Entertainment Weekly, Murphy has detailed how he approaches Hollywood’s ageism problem.
As Women and Hollywood previously reported, the industry has two types of age problems: The first is that only 11 percent of about 4,066 speaking characters in the 100 top U.S. films of 2015 were 60 or older and only 10 roles considered leads or co-leads were held by actors 60 or older. The second is a total shift in an actress’s career once she turns 40. As The Washington Post noted, “For women, 40 is a sunset year. When a female actor reaches 40, she loses access to about three-quarters of the leading film roles for women.”
“I feel like it’s ridiculous that women over 40 aren’t working,” Murphy told EW. “It’s ridiculous. So I just am doing a show about that now.”
Murphy’s project “Feud” will focus on the rivalry between Bette Davis (Susan Sarandon) and Joan Crawford (Jessica Lange) on the set of “Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?” The cast also includes Catherine Zeta-Jones, Sarah Paulson, and Judy Davis.
“I’ve got eight women in that show over 40,” Murphy said. “They’re all amazing and they’re always just so stunned that somebody cares about them, which is the thing that I find the most moving. They’re like, ‘Really? You’re interested in me?’ And they always say that to me. Kathy Bates, Jessica [Lange], on and on and on. And I am, I’m interested in them.”
Actresses like Lange and Bates, and most recently Sarah Paulson, have won Emmy Awards for their roles in Murphy’s projects. There’s little doubt Sarandon will soon join the club of nominees that result from his many television ventures. “Feud” will hit FX in 2017.
It’s always exciting to add another male ally to the team of Hollywood insiders that are helping to advance women in the industry, break down barriers, and fight the systems that keep women from growing in their careers: Other creators, producers, and executives in Hollywood should definitely take a note from Murphy’s playbook and do more for the cause.
