In recent interviews, both Kim Cattrall and Susan Sarandon have both spoken about aging in Hollywood. Neither had good things to say about their experiences.
Cattrall, who is in London starring in the Tennesee Williams play Sweet Bird of Youth as aging Hollywood starlet Alexandra Del Lago called out the ageism in Hollywood in recent interviews.
In the Daily Mail, Cattrall comments on the lack of older women naked onscreeen.
We get covered up, we disappear, not to be seen, because we are no longer young and beautiful and sexually desirable. That’s such a shame because
everywhere else in the world they prop older women up on statues and platforms and podiums, saying, ‘Not only is this a woman who is beautiful, but she has
life experience too.’
She also comments on the “horrific” scrutiny of being an actress, something that never changes even despite your age.
Those are some of the reasons why Cattrall now spends her time on the stage and not in Hollywood. Here’s what she said to The Guardian.
I don’t have a relationship with Hollywood now. You can’t if you’re over 40. It’s a place where you go to make a lot of money and get out.
Susan Sarandon was as equally frank about aging as Cattrall in an interview for Oprah’s Master Class. She told Oprah that many actresses couldn’t make the transition once they aged–mostly because of the shift in the work they could get, as Sarandon explains.
You’re so punished in this business. When people say, ‘Do you think you’ve lost work because of your politics?’ I say, ‘No, You lose work because you get
old and fat!’ That’s when they write you off in Hollywood.
While there are stories like the one in the Hollywood Reporter that we recently wrote about that discuss the successes of women over 40, this is the reality of two women working in the business. It’s not all rosy for women over 40. Ageism and sexism are deeply embedded in the industry and it is important to keep having the conversations and pushing for change.
Watch a video of Sarandon talking about ageism in Hollywood below.
