50-year-old Nicole Kidman has had it with Hollywood ageism.
After winning her first SAG award for her role in Big Little Lies, the actress spoke out about the former scarcity of parts for women over the age of 40.
She thanked iconic older performers like Susan Sarandon and Meryl Streep before saying, "I want to thank you all for your trailblazing performances you have given over your career and how wonderful it is that our careers today can go beyond 40 years old."
"Twenty years ago, we were pretty washed up by this stage in our lives, so that's not the case now. We have proven [that] these actresses and so many more are proving that we are potent and powerful and viable."
However, she emphasised that Hollywood needs to invest in older actresses in order to properly combat ageism.
"I just beg that the industry stays behind us, because our stories are finally being told," the Moulin Rouge! actress passionately said, "It’s only the beginning, and I’m so proud to be a part of a community that is instigating this change."
"But I implore the writers, directors, studios, and financiers to put passion and money behind our stories. We have proven that we can do this; we can continue to do this, but only with the support of this industry and that money and passion."
The numbers back up what Nicole so astutely observed. The Institute for Diversity and Empowerment at Annenberg at the University of Southern California released a report on diversity in entertainment in 2016.
The researchers found that only 35 percent of the characters in their study were over 40, and of that 35 percent, a mere 25.7 percent were women.
A study by Clemson economists Robert Fleck and Andrew Hanssen examined data from IMDB on American-produced films from 1920 to 2011, The Washington Post reports.
According to their findings, women in their 20s get 80 percent of leading roles compared to men of the same age, but by the time they turn 40, that advantage over men flips and men over 40 get 80 percent of leading roles. Women aged 40 or over are left with a paltry 20 percent of leading roles.
At 38, Liv Tyler told More magazine, "When you're in your teens or twenties, there is an abundance of ingénue parts which are exciting to play. But at [my age], you're usually the wife or the girlfriend, a sort of second-class citizen."
And women should not be treated as such. We're with Nicole and the rest of Hollywood women - we do not become supporting characters once we hit 40.
