Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Did You Know



That women in Hollywood give birth really young? Like before they were born themselves:

The common belief that one dog year is equal to seven human years could just as easily be applied to female actors as Alsatians. It must be down to the Californian water, but something seems to happen to the women in LA so that they speed through the years at a far swifter rate than that of their male contemporaries. According to film casting agents, anyway.

It is all too easy for a female actor to find herself cast as the mother of someone who once played her boyfriend as soon as she blows out the candles on her 35th birthday cake. This has long been an accepted fact of Hollywood life, and one that most women keep schtum about as they know they should be grateful to get any roles at all in their decrepit post-30s.

But last weekend, Hope Davis finally broke ranks to admit she was somewhat "peeved" when she was recently offered a role playing the mother of Johnny Depp, a concept that would have tested the skills of the most talented special effects department, seeing as Davis was actually born the year after Depp.

Astonishing. And I never realized this:

Rewind to The Graduate. Unfortunately, that ultimate older woman, Anne Bancroft, was older than Dustin Hoffman by a mere five years.

So how common is this particular type of ageism/sexism? And how does it affect male actors? Do they get cast into fatherly roles too young? Heh.