"It Looks Pathetic When I Hear Some 55-Year-Old Actor Won't Play Opposite A 42-Year-Old Woman Because She Is Too Old For Him" – 15 Actors And What They've Said About Hollywood's Inequalities

"When men – producers – say, 'You're old' to me that is the most laughable f**king ridiculous thing a moron could ever say."

Ageism and gender pay gaps are issues that permeate most industries, affecting working people all over the world. While actors are highly paid, there still lies a distinct difference in how Hollywood sees and treats actors who aren't men.

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Here are 15 actors who've spoken up about ageism and the gender pay gap in Hollywood:

1. Michelle Yeoh

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Michelle spoke about the lack of opportunities that exist as women get older in the industry, and how they are put into a box that is ever-shrinking. On getting the script for Everything Everywhere All At Once, where she plays the lead, she said:

"I’ve waited a long time to receive a script like that. Because, as you get older, the box gets smaller and smaller. And especially for us, it’s never been an easy ride to start off with."

She went on to talk about the type of roles she got offered with age:

"With Crazy Rich Asians, suddenly, I am the mean mom. Then I was the auntie. Then when I receive a script and they say, 'Please play the grandmother,' I was like, 'Please don’t put me in that box.'"

2. Emma Stone

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In terms of wage disparity, Emma discussed the gender pay gap in Hollywood back in 2017 and referred to the times other male co-stars intervened in order for her to get paid equally, saying:

"In my career so far, I've needed my male co-stars to take a pay cut so that I may have parity with them. And that's something they do for me because they feel it's what's right and fair."

She went on to say how getting paid equally to her male peers has affected her career, and impacted future negotiations:

"If my male co-star, who has a higher quote than me but believes we are equal, takes a pay cut so that I can match him, that changes my quote in the future and changes my life."

3. Maggie Gyllenhaal

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Talking about ageism in the industry, Maggie called it one of the most disappointing things about Hollywood. She was referring to the time that a producer told her that she was too old for a role. The thing that made her "feel bad, then angry, then made [her] laugh", was that she was 37 at the time, and the man whose love interest she'd be playing was 55...

4. Helen Mirren

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The double standards that were shown in Maggie's case also caused outrage among other female actors, including Helen Mirren, who called what happened "fucking outrageous."

She went on to discuss the ageism in Hollywood, and how seemingly it's only women who age, and when they do, they are aged out of roles:

“Honestly. It’s so annoying. And ’twas ever thus. We all watched James Bond as he got more and more geriatric, and his girlfriends got younger and younger. It’s so annoying.”

5. Jennifer Lawrence

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Jen has become one of Hollywood's top actors, yet she's still very much aware of the disparity in pay between her and her male co-stars. She spoke about how even becoming one of the industry's top talents wouldn't even ensure parity with male actors, saying, “It doesn’t matter how much I do,” she said. “I’m still not going to get paid as much as that guy, because of my vagina?” 

During the Sony leak back in 2014, it was revealed that she was paid less for her role in American Hustle than her male co-stars. She also earned $5 million less than Leonardo DiCaprio for her part in Don't Look Up. 

While saying she was "extremely fortunate and happy with my deal," she also mentioned the difficulty in pushing for equal pay, 

"In other situations, what I have seen — and I’m sure other women in the workforce have seen as well — is that it’s extremely uncomfortable to inquire about equal pay. And if you do question something that appears unequal, you’re told it’s not gender disparity, but they can’t tell you what exactly it is.”

6. Jamie Lee Curtis

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Jamie, who has always been against the media and Hollywood's obsession with being young, spoke out against the way ageing is treated in the entertainment industry:

“I think it’s humiliating to see the media frenzy when somebody gets older and they don’t look the way they used to look. It’s like dancing with the devil. I’ve danced with it for a long time, and it’s been okay. But I don’t want to be punished for the natural evolution of being human, and I will be if I stay in it too long.”

7. Jennifer Aniston

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Jennifer has been vocal about the pressures in Hollywood to stave away the signs of ageing, and the impact that has had on fellow actors:

"There is also this pressure in Hollywood to be ageless. I think what I have been witness to, is seeing women trying to stay ageless with what they are doing to themselves. I am grateful to learn from their mistakes because I am not injecting shit into my face."

8. Michelle Williams

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Back in 2019, Michelle went to Capitol Hill to bring up the issue of the gender pay gap. It was abundantly clear to Michelle that men and women weren't valued equally in the industry, something she found out herself. 

It was revealed that when she and Mark Wahlberg had to do reshoots for their film All the Money in the World, she was paid $1,000 to Mark's $1.5 million – Michelle said she was "paralysed" when she found out the disparity.

On the reaction, or lack of it, to this huge disparity, she said: "No one cared. This came as no surprise to me, it simply reinforced my life-learned belief that equality is not an inalienable right and that women would always be working just as hard for less money while shouldering more responsibility at home."

9. Cameron Diaz

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Famously, Cameron Diaz stepped away from acting in 2014 (although she's coming back soon!), but not without citing Hollywood's problem with age. 

On turning 40, she said in an interview that, even though she was actually looking forward to it, she knew what it meant for her career: "I was not 25 anymore and everybody knew that. So I was no longer valuable."

She described it as a "cruel thing our society does to women," saying; “To tell them they’ve failed for a process that’s totally normal and natural.”

10. Doris Roberts

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Doris took the issue of ageism in the entertainment industry in front of the Senate, where she argued that roles for women over the age of 40 are few and far between and that older men are rarely cast opposite women of the same age. 

She highlighted the issue with the film Entrapment – where Sean Connery's character married Catherine Zeta-Jone's character, with the two 40 years apart in age. 

Speaking about the effects of this, she said: 

“This is why some of my spectacularly talented actress friends in their 40s and 50s have been forced into the humiliating position of borrowing money from me … or begging me to see if there is even a tiny part for them on Everybody Loves Raymond.” 

11. Julianna Margulies

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Julianna was very keen to continue with The Good Wife in a potential spin-off series, however, CBS refused to meet her salary demands. Instead of backing down, she stood by her demands and thus the spin-off never was. 

Referring to the disappointment of the network not being willing to pay her, she noted the difference in how men and women are valued for their work in the industry, saying:

"I'm not a guest star; I started the whole thing with The Good Wife. I wanted to be paid my worth and stand up for equal pay. If Jon Hamm came back for a Mad Men spinoff or Kiefer Sutherland wanted to do a 24 spinoff, they would be paid."

12. Natalie Portman

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While admitting that actors such as herself get paid large amounts, Natalie has also commented on the wild disparity between men and women in the industry, saying in comparison to men, “In Hollywood, we are making 30 cents to the dollar.”

In 2017 she spoke about how Ashton Kutcher was paid three times her fee for their roles in No Strings Attached, saying, “I wasn’t as pissed as I should have been. I mean, we get paid a lot, so it’s hard to complain, but the disparity is crazy.”

13. Zoë Saldana

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In terms of being put in a box, Zoë has also spoken out against the way women are treated in the industry, and the roles they are offered when they get to a certain age:

"When men – producers – say, 'You're old' to me that is the most laughable fucking ridiculous thing a moron could ever say. By the time you're 28 you're expired, you're playing mommy roles. We're not the ones putting ourselves in those places. We're allowing ourselves to be put in those positions. I just won't allow it."

14. Patricia Arquette

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Patricia has discussed the difference between men and women in the industry, and men don't have to think about ageing, and in some cases, perpetuate the issue by being part of the problem. 

"I'd love to not have to talk about it anymore. I don't think the men are talking about it at all. Ageing is just normal. That is all there is to it. I don't think the public is shocked by the fact that women get older. It is pathetic, and it looks pathetic when I hear some 55-year-old actor won't play opposite a 42-year-old woman because she is too old for him. People aren't buying this anymore."

15. Jessica Lange

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Jessica has called ageism in the film and TV industry "pervasive." She pointed to the lack of opportunities that are offered to women as they get older, particularly in comparison to men:

"It’s not a level playing field. You don’t often see women in their 60s playing romantic leads, yet you will see men in their 60s playing romantic leads with co-stars who are decades younger. I think about how few wonderful actresses of my generation are still doing viable, important film work."