The Leftovers star Liv Tyler has joined the ongoing conversation about the confluence of ageism and sexism in Hollywood, fueled this year by a growing number of women working in the entertainment industry who have spoken candidly about the problem. In a lengthy interview with More magazine, Tyler expressed her frustrations with the situation faced by actresses as they enter they age, describing it as being like “a sort of second class citizen.”
“38 is a crazy number. It’s not fun when you see things start to change,” Tyler, who recently turned 38, said. “When you’re in your teens and twenties, there is an abundance of ingenue parts which are exciting to play. But at [my age] you’re usually the wife or the girlfriend, a sort of second class citizen.”
“There are more interesting roles for women when they get a bit older,” she said.
The roster of actresses calling the problem out have swelled in 2015, notably including Maggie Gyllenhaal, and Emma Thompson who recently said that the problem is “worse than it was even when I was young.” And in August, NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment Group Chairman Bonnie Hammer joined the discussion as well, in a frank op/ed for Fortune that described the pressures placed on women in context of her recently turning 65.
“While leading men have been celebrated for their timeless charm and weathered good looks, women my age have been barely visible on screen—or try to remain visible by remodeling what age has created,” Hammer wrote. “Bowing to societal pressures, they’ve lifted brows, tightened skin, filled laugh lines, and realigned proportions, all to stretch careers that would have otherwise been jeopardized by simply looking one’s age.”
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