Marisa Tomei ‘Really Regrets’ Career Shift to Mom Roles: ‘I Try to Make the Most of It’

The woman is 55 years old.

She could be playing grandmothers at this point.

Agreed, R1.

I love Marisa, but she's delusional if she thinks she's still young enough to play the ingenue.

Her looks are the same as 20 years ago. She must be an honorary DataLounger!

Has she given her Mama Rose?

Even Juliette Lewis is taking mom roles now. Get over it, Marisa!!!

It's almost as if your age should define your roles.

Admittedly, there's been some insane casting by age in the past. But she's 55 - would we not think she may have children?

To be honest, they would typically cast someone for that role who is 10 years younger.

Level 1: I'm Beautfiul I'm Young CAST ME - while middle aged women say she's not good and had no experience.

Level 2 I'm still Beautiful and Young? Why doesn't see me as being young? She still gets roles although being relatively inappropriate.

Level 3: I'm Beautiful and Young even though I'm 50. I should still get the roles I got when I was in my 20's even though I kicked out older women who would have done a better job. when I was in my 20's.

Level 4: Hollywood is ageist against women. I deserved all the roles I got when I was young and beautiful and I should get the same treatment now that I'm older.

She's still attractive so Level 4 doesn't even apply. The issue is why does a woman have to jump from District Attorney to Driving Miss Daisy?

She may be attractive but she still looks old, I saw her in the Spiderman films. Nothing wrong with that per se, but she only looked horrible in them because she doesn't have the body or face to wear the clothes and hair style she was sporting. So she needs to get comfortable playing middle aged women, as that is what she is. If she's unhappy with the roles provided to middle aged women she needs to look to other women to write those interesting roles she craves

She doesn't look old. She doesn't look 25, either. I think she looks great. It's not really about how she looks. It's the audience demographic and their judgment/wants.

I thought she was familiar in The King of Staten Island, but I couldn't place her. She's one of the best things about it, but I didn't know it was she until end credits.

My cousin Vinny was almost 30 years ago. She is nearing 60. I, on the other hand, am not

I haven't seen "Spiderman" but if she's under-/mis-used in those movies, that's the fault of the makers. Nothing about her age should impact on giving her good material. DL fave Thelma Ritter could steal a movie with a role that lasted only a few minutes. If the writing is there and the actor delivers it skillfully, there should be no issue.

I think she looks great for 55.

Rosemary Harris actually had good material in the Tobey Maguire Spider-Man series.

I understand Tomei's frustration but... she's still getting roles, and in films with big budgets and good directors. It really could be worse.

It could be worse. Remember Parker Posey in that Superman movie?

Why are all of you commenting on her looks as if she even said one word about that? She never claimed to be so young and beautiful she should get the "young" parts. She wants INTERESTING parts. But there are so few of those for women 40+. Once you take on "the mom" role, you're just a supporting actor---a prop to explain a child's motivations. You're no longer seen as a whole person unto yourself......a multi-dimensional character with a life, dreams and motivations of your own.

Well middle aged mom at R16 why don't you go out and WRITE those interesting roles yourself, if middle aged moms are so interesting? I'll tell why- because they aren't interesting, not interesting enough to put in a film anyway and women would rather talk about what needs to be done rather than go out and do it themselves

[post redacted because linking to dailymail.co.uk clearly indicates that the poster is either a troll or an idiot (probably both, honestly.) Our advice is that you just ignore this poster but whatever you do, don't click on any link to this putrid rag.]

[Quote] Well middle aged mom at [R16] why don't you go out and WRITE those interesting roles yourself, if middle aged moms are so interesting? I'll tell why- because they aren't interesting, not interesting enough to put in a film anyway and women would rather talk about what needs to be done rather than go out and do it themselves

More like once people get past a certain age, they consume less new entertainment. They have more demands on their time and often less discretionary income. Youth want to watch other youth.

I still think she looks good for 55, but I guess I'm comparing her to when I was a kid, and 55-year-old women looked downright grandmotherly and dressed very matronly.

Even Nora Ephron said in an interview once that women have to go out and do the work if they want to be directors and see interesting women onscreen

I never said that the average "middle aged mom" is so interesting, R17. Quite the opposite if you know how to read. However, there are many interesting 'women' over 50...... who might ALSO happen to be moms. They're doing lots of other things besides mommy-ing. But the narcissistic male PTB in Hollywood only see women over 50 in the one dimensional way they they know how to relate to them---as moms. A person frozen in amber, with no life of her own, until needed to advance the plot, or make a killer lasagna.

Most women face that dilemma in Hollywood. Women like Reese Witherspoon take matters in their own hands and start a production company and produce content with them in it. And even Reese Witherspoon plays mom roles in her highly acclaimed productions like Big Little Lies and Little Fires Everywhere.

Women don't get anything handed to them. They have to work hard to convince the studio guys that they'll make them money.

[quote]A person frozen in amber, with no life of her own, until needed to advance the plot

Btw, gay men and POC should be able to relate to this insult. They have notoriously been used as plot devices as well.

Thankfully, streaming means that while dumb popcorn fare dominates the cinema screens, intelligent, non-lowest common denominator projects can find an audience.

Uh no you didn't say the opposite R22. You said older women who take on the mom role in movies are no longer interesting because those roles are uninteresting and how few interesting roles there are for older women. If older women who also happen to be moms are interesting than why don't they write those interesting roles? And if women can't get those parts put in movies why don't they create their own film industry and create whatever movies they want?

[Quote] If older women who also happen to be moms are interesting than why don't they write those interesting roles? And if women can't get those parts put in movies why don't they create their own film industry and create whatever movies they want?

Are you really asking that question? Someone who is young isn't inherently interesting. They're inherently sellable.

Marisa dropped the ball by not kissing up to Lifetime after they dropped Lori Loughlin. She could've gotten that Lifetime cash money playing amateur sleuths, abused women who leave their husband, or stalker victims.

She is a 55 yr old actress who is working!

She always claimed to prefer theater. She ought to take a look at a long list of mature women who lit up the stage in wonderful roles: Ros Russell, Shirley Booth, Patti Lupone, Ethel Merman, Mary Martin, Laurie Metcalf— she did the Rose Tattoo relatively recently. Anyway, I appreciate her honesty, but not good form when you are her age and complaining about working.

[Quote] not good form when you are her age and complaining about working.

She wasn't complaining about working. She was complaining about thankless roles.

I agree R27 but that's not the point. The point is whether older women, particularly mothers, are interesting enough characters for film. If they are, then women should go out and create those films, and women should go out and watch those films. But unlike say, Reese Witherspoon, it's much easier to whine about how it's men's fault for not writing those characters and putting them in their films. It's total victim mentality.

86% of women the U.S have given birth by their late 40s, which I think is astounding considering that women have more opportunities than ever before. Hollywood films are simply reflecting statistical reality. And Marissa is both attractive AND interesting as the mom in TKOSI.

Don’t get me started on 50-something Keanu Reeves rebooting his man-child in “Bill and Ted”... he looks like a goddamn fool, but his character was resurrected because he’s got a penis and benefits from the Hollywood double-standard which only applies to moms - not dads, who apparently abandon their families to become double-agents and action heroes.

[Quote] The point is whether older women, particularly mothers, are interesting enough characters for film.

The fact that it's even a point or a question shows how fucked up things are. And on DL of all places.

Thank you, R32. And don't forget they also get young, hot girlfriends and wives who are way WAY out of their league, reflecting the fantasies of fat, old, ugly male power players in Hollywood.

And yet you can't argue against it R33 because you know it's true. Hence why those roles haven't been written.

I like Tomei. And she's gorgeous. She has shown some longevity in the industry. She got nominated for an Oscar nine years after her win, and then got a second nod seven years after that. I get where she is coming from. Things are changing, but the industry is still a bit like a sausage-fest at times. She was only answering a question as asked, and then OP placed it here out of context so bitchy queens could pass judgment on her. The original article was from Collider and she was asked about being boxed in by mom roles. She was just being honest and her answer seem to fit a narrative the writer was trying to create.

I think Tomei should do more theatre and/or start doing more producing.

[Quote] And yet you can't argue against it [R33] because you know it's true. Hence why those roles haven't been written.

Why would I argue against it? It's nonsensical. Any person can be interesting. "Older," "mom" don't enter my head as descriptors that would disqualify a character from being interesting.

It's quite simple why Sean Connery had DL fave CZJ as his leading lady when he was eleventy hundred years old. The producers and the male audience are happy to have Connery as a stand in for themselves, regardless of his age. And they wanted to fuck CZJ. Simple as that.

[quote] The point is whether older women, particularly mothers, are interesting enough characters for film

I think that Dolores Claiborne was one of the most interesting characters in film, either male or female.

And she was both an older woman and a mother.

Recently watched "Before the Devil Knows You're Dead"(2007), Sidney Lumet's final film.

Surprised to see that MT bared her breasts in three separate scenes, and not briefly.

Didn't she do nudity in "The Wrestler"? She played a stripper.

Marisa Tomei was awful in “My Cousin Vinny.” She’s lucky to still be getting roles. Sorry to say this because she seems like a decent person.

no one knows you were in those Marvel pictures Marissa......just don't bring it up.

Bette Davis, Katherine Hepburn, Angela Lansbury, Rosalind Russell all played interesting older women characters. We’ve been regressing since the global film market opened up, which lowered the common denominator of what’s considered appealing to the masses.

First you're another sloe-eyed vamp. Then someone's mother, then you're camp. Then you career from career to career

Hmm. I don't see the problem. I've played lots of interesting older women characters, most also mothers. But I only accept 'starring' roles portraying women who are fascinating, world famous and/or iconic. I don't waste my time and immense talent playing second fiddle to kids.

Marissa--call me. Let's talk.

[quote]She was only answering a question as asked, and then OP placed it here out of context so bitchy queens could pass judgment on her.

Welcome to Datalounge.

[quote]I don't waste my time and immense talent playing second fiddle to kids.

Just last year, you played second fiddle to kids in Little Women , you dumb bitch

[quote]But I only accept 'starring' roles portraying women who are fascinating, world famous and/or iconic.

You were also in The Laundromat

[quote] She was only answering a question as asked, and then OP placed it here out of context so bitchy queens could pass judgment on her.

[quote] Welcome to Datalounge.

OP didn't write the article. IDIOTS.

^Shut up G.

[quote]OP didn't write the article. IDIOTS.

What part of "The original article was from Collider" and "OP placed it here" did you not comprehend, you fucking moron.

She could do a one-woman show about her struggle to feed herself.

I love Marisa and I completely understand what she was saying. I do think she should start producing and team up with talented female writers and directors who can cast her in roles worthy of her talent.

R2, either the mum or the ingenue. Is that how you see women? You are not very clever, right?

[quote] WRITE those interesting roles yourself

Yes, Marissa is clearly very good with words.

She's 15 years older than Margo Channing.

I remember in that wrrestier movie with Mickey Routke it was perfect because she played a stripper that was aging out of the business and she looked like it too

Wow, R51, that article is surprisingly crazy sounding!

I really enjoy Tomei as an actress (and also thought that she seemed like a kind of low key person behind the scenes) but in that food article she comes across as a neurotic mess in real life.

It’s almost like Blanche Dubois wrote a food diary while in lockdown with Stella and Stanley....

“I drank it quickly to calm the fire that was running through my body”!

Has Marisa dated ANYBODY since that Logan Marshall-Green guy? You never see her with anyone. There have always been rumors about her being a lush.

I have no idea why she hasn't done a TV show. It's the perfect chance for her to be a lead. She's talked quite a bit lately over her disappointment in always being a supporting actress. Though, that's probably why she's still around and actively working.

She was going to play Gloria Steinem in an HBO miniseries but it sadly didn't get off the ground.

R59, she would have been better than Rose Byrne as Gloria in Mrs. America.

Nope, MT "aged out" of playing Steinem (who was 36 in 1970). Rose Byrne is 40.

MT should retire and run a B &B in Sedona or somewheres like that. She's be happier, and she'd get more love from the people.

I like her, but she really has a dreadful filmography. Very few movies she's been in are any good.

The low point for her was probably Someone Like You, playing the second fiddle best friend to Ashley Judd. That must have been a little humiliating for her.

She's a stupid bitch. I still don't forgive her for taking the role of Aunt May in the new spider-man movies and completely fucking it up. She didn't even do the TEN MINUTES of research needed to figure the character was an old lady! She was reportedly surprised to learn that.

She's getting rave reviews for her performance in King of Staten Island and will probably win her second Oscar for it.

I absolutely loved her in "Only You" with Bonnie Hunt and Robert Downey, Jr.

Marisa truly was the "ingenue" in that role, and she looked stunning in the movie.

It's one of the few rom-coms I can actually stand to watch.

Playing Pete Davidson's mom *is* pretty sad, poor dear.

I liked her, but, yeah, she has aged out of a lot of roles. She's 55, she shouldn't be complaining too much about it though. It's not like Jennifer Lawrence playing thirtysomething roles at 26.

She doesn't regret getting thrown off of "A Different World." What a racist.

She doesn't regret getting thrown off of "A Different World." What a racist.

She is a very good actress with a likable presence. I think she can be pretty happy with her career overall.

She was fired from A Different World and went on to win an Oscar. Saying she was bad in My Cousin Vinny is one of the dumbest comments in DL history.

Nicole Kidman is playing mothers and isn’t complaining about it Everyone loves their mothers and some of the best roles are.

She's horrible wasted in those Spiderman movies. Her only characteristic in that role is that she's hot for her age.

It sounds like she’s complaining about being cast in a Marvel series, something other actresses her age would kill for. The LAST thing I’d want to hear my employee do is complain about how her job was her 2nd choice. It’s not graceful or respectful and honestly a bit crass.

She can expect it to come up in future contract negotiations...

R65 Her character was insufferable in that one. I remember one critic describing Tomei in that film as the least believable school teacher to ever grace the film screen. Bonnie Hunt and Italy stole the film from under her nose.

Only You was supposed to make Tomei into a leading lady but I'm guessing the poor reviews and under performance at the box office put a stop to those plans.

Why does she have no relationships anymore? It's been ages since she's appeared to even have a boyfriend.

[quote] Playing Pete Davidson's mom *is* pretty sad, poor dear. —Kate Beckinsale

At least I'm still working. DEAR.

I saw Only You on a flight to Italy years ago when your only movie choice was the one they showed on the big screens. When it ended, I heard a man a couple of rows back say “That was one of those BAD movies.”

[quote] Why does she have no relationships anymore? It's been ages since she's appeared to even have a boyfriend.

She seems sort of... difficult.

And I have no doubt that she has put her career before anything or anyone else.

It's her choice, and I respect her for that.

R75 She dated Logan Marshall-Green for a while.

LMG was 10 years ago and since then it was briefly Josh Radnor in 2014. Other than that, nothing...

r76 You think being the town bicycle for 20 year olds with mommy issues is a pleasure cruise?

Logan Marshall-Green's (ex)wife, whom he got with after Marisa, spilled a lot of tea on him. He sounds like a mess. If he was anything like that with Marisa, I could see her being put off of relationships possibly for good.