Article by Ceri Wheeldon
How fabulous to see fabulous women over 50 being acknowledged at the Oscars. I loved Allison Janney’s interview on the red carpet, ahead of the awards ceremony where she acknowledged being a late bloomer, and said how she was excited about the number of great roles coming through for older actresses.
As Allison gained her first Oscar nomination (and win) at the age of 58, she is a symbol of why it is never too late to succeed and excel in your career – and she is certainly not invisible over 50. I loved her as C.J. Cregg in the West Wing – and am thrilled that she now has the recognition she deserves.
Frances McDormand won her second Oscar for her role in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri at the age of 60.
Both are great actresses , who played really meaty roles. Let’s not forget that other actresses over 50 were also nominated…Meryl Streep and Lesley Manville, again illustrating that there are meaty roles being created for more mature actresses – others nominated , Mary j, Blige, Octavia Spencer and Sally Hawkins are in their 40s. Maturity seems to be a winning roles and recognition- with less emphasis on youth. The male nominees were also for the most part ‘older’, Gary Oldman, Daniel Day Lewis, Christopher Plummer, Willem Defoe, Woody Harrelson, Denzel Washington.
Let’s hope that this signals the value – and market the mature audience represents is being recognised, and that we want to see actors and actresses that we can relate to take centre stage on films with storylines that appeal to our age group.
I think it’s fabulous that recognition of actors in our age group is becoming the norm rather than the exception. What do you think?
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