The “Work” Offered to Aging Female Oscar Winners

You forgot G.

G is not an "aging female Oscar Winner"

Because Meryl Streep grabs all the 55+ roles.

As I have said about every actress who complains about this: you have the money and you have the connections. If it’s not working for you, then YOU need to work it. Jane Fonda whining because she’ll never work again? You’re a nepo baby. Help yourself by figuring it out.

One reason is, i think, an absolute lack of serious films, with roles for older women (and men). Movie making in Hollywood is increasingly formulaic and risk free, just remakes and action movies. There is a couple of prestige projects that escape this, mostly for Oscar season, but they are rare which means the roles for older women is rarer still.

And even then, You only have to look of some of the trash that is now being nominated to best picture to see this tendency.

I don’t begrudge older women who want to work being part of this, as otherwise they wouldn’t be able to do anything.

Doesn't it depend on the actress? Meryl, Sigourney, Frances, Helen Mirren and Isabelle Huppert are more dignified and are not going to do some crappy comedy about seniors at a camp with fart jokes.

Whereas the others have no shame (including Jane) and will do anything low-level and commercial to make a buck.

The same thing happened to Hollywood that is happening to the news media. Giant corporations have bought up businesses that used to be owned by people who had a love for the movies (or journalism). Now they are revenue cogs run by strangers.

First you're another sloe-eyed vamp, Then someone's mother, Then you're camp!

There is no reasonable construct for "nepo hag" that is convincing, R4. Although you're funny.

Actors act. And most are not in a position to push their dream scripts, if they have any. Even the ones with enough sway and determination to secure films don't do it for long periods of time. Or with lasting success.

Burt Lancaster, Kevin Costner, Mel "Sugar Tits" Gibson, Orson Welles, and Barbra Streisand are a few examples.

Brad Pitt, Will Smith, Drew Barrymore, Sandra Bullock, Reese Witherspoon, Adam Sandler, George Clooney, and Viola Davis now have production companies. Are you overwhelmed by their results? Sandler has sustained the most success, for Jebus' sake.

There are always the witch and evil stepmother roles in Disney's latest CGI remake of one of its films!

One of Diane's pre production films "Constance" had director Mark Pellington attached- he is not A list, but a solid director who does well with suspense/thrillers which is what this one was. It sounds like it has potential and I wonder if it will get made- It requires an aging/elederly woman-

He directed the Laura Linney/Richard Gere Mothman Prophecies-

[quote]Because Meryl Streep grabs all the 55+ roles.

This was probably the case 15-20 years ago, but Meryl hasn't released a film since 2021, and her next movie is a sequel to The Devil Wears Prada, which never was going to go to anyone but her. She's not taking roles from Glenn and Sigourney anymore. The roles just aren't there for women in their late seventies, and never really have been.

I don't expect her to start doing crap like 80 for Brady, but the truth is that we will probably never see another great Meryl Streep performance again.

R12=Glen Close

Someone needs to do a parody movie called "The Purple Ladies' Wine 'n' Book Club at the Tuscany Big Fat Wedding" and shoehorn every aging actress into it.

You're an idiot, R13, and it's not just because you can't spell.

It’s not limited to female stars. Al Pacino and Robert deniro have taken a lot of forgettable things in the last 20 or so years. John Wayne was similar in the later part of his career.

[quote]we will probably never see another great Meryl Streep performance again.

Some of us are still waiting for the first.

Meryl is in her own category which clearly drives jealousy. She will be A+ list for as long as she wants to work.

Remember when Anjelica Huston set off a firestorm by stating she didn’t want to do film at all if the options were shit like Poms?

Nice R19- Angelica was right. No shade against Diane who I love even more than Angelica. But she was right and I admire her honesty.

Pay their bills, live their lives, OP.

Keaton was the best part of The Young Pope in 2016.

I wish she had done more television. She would have been terrific as a Law and Order prosecutor.

Would The Substance be considered a throwback to the golden age of hag horror?

I don't know, r23. Demi isn't a hag and had to be made up like one.

Stick your ugly head up up my taut and toned Gucci covered ass, Mickey!

And I HATE your name.

AND I HATE YOU!!!!

You beast.

I liked Book Club (the first one, at least).

In the hilarious comedy “Horny Cats,” Jane Fonda, Dyan Cannon, Liza Minelli, and Candice Bergen star as four lifelong friends who embark on a wild 10-day cruise for single seniors. Their mission? To find love and a bit of mischievous fun. Jane Fonda delivers a memorable performance, including a cheeky nude scene where she boldly bares her breasts to seduce the charismatic Michael Caine, playing a wealthy retiree in a wheelchair. Get ready for laughter, love, and a dash of daring escapades!

They can't stand not working. It takes a strong person to walk away from the business, and pursue other goals in life.

I remember when Glenda Jackson quit to become a politician saying, "I can't just play the Nurse in Romeo and Juliet for the rest of my life" (or words to that effect).

Yet she came back and to great acclaim, r28.

There’s always Harry Potter . . .

[quote]Meryl is in her own category which clearly drives jealousy. She will be A+ list for as long as she wants to work.

Meryl will be considered one of the greatest actors ever for the rest of her life, and probably beyond. But that won't make her A+ list forever, at least in the way that it matters. Great roles for people as they reach their eighties are rare, and eventually her best roles will be character parts.

Meryl has already played Aunt March (a part Hepburn famously turned down). She's almost to that point already.

Young people go to movies far more than older people do. What are the kinds of projects starring old people that younger people would want to see?

[quote]What are the kinds of projects starring old people that younger people would want to see?

June Squibb's 40-Load Weekend.

Jessica Tandy had several good roles later in life. The opportunities are there if you’re good!

And HBO

“I want her to know it was me.”

I always think many people have a strange idea of what being an Oscar winner means... they seem to think if you get an Oscar, you're somehow like a "made man" in the Mafia, and you should be guaranteed good work for the entire rest of your career.

That's just never, ever been how it works.

[quote]they seem to think if you get an Oscar, you're somehow like a "made man" in the Mafia, and you should be guaranteed good work for the entire rest of your career.

Would you like fries with that?

They may not all be Oscar winners but Jennifer Lopez, Aniston, Bullock, Witherspoon, Kidman are still playing single women living in the city or mothers to toddlers or teens when they’re all old enough to play grandmothers.

So there’s lots of roles.

You must be talking about 70-80+ year olds.

[quote]why do these solid actresses, who need neither the money nor the humiliation, do it?

Not all of these women want to be JLo pretending to be a 60 year old hooker or Nicole Kidman pretending she’s a kindergarten mother.

I think these Oscar winning actresses pretty much play themselves and that works when they're the lead. The film is often a vehicle for them. So of they are then a supporting player they are too well known to disappear into that character.

[quote]Diane Keaton’s death brings to mind the dear woman’s later filmography

Good fucking Lord. A gen-u-wine sob sister.

There aren't that many good roles for women over 60, they take what they can get. Remember all the "hag horror" films?

r39 it looks ridiculous. Nicole Kidman was playing the mother of a five year old in that HBO thing she did a while back, and the kid was supposed to be her biological child. Currently on The Morning Show, Reese Witherspoon is playing a character who should be 20 years younger than she actually is.

There are tons of older actresses who get great work. The trouble for Diane is that she had no range. She always played Diane Keaton.

[quote]Young people go to movies far more than older people do.

No one goes to movie theaters anymore, babe.

It’s true that older actors are expected to play the old hits. If they did a completely new character, audiences don’t absorb it as easily. I don’t think it’s necessarily a bad thing because audiences just want a good movie.

Unfortunately the mainstream films for elders like 80 for Brady are hideous.

Meryl and Sigourney (who is having a renaissance) have Ripley and Miranda, who are great characters.

I would love to see Sigourney play Ripley one more time. She's in amazing shape for her age, she could still do it.

Helen Mirren...I remember about 15 years ago when she made a TV ad for Wii Fit. She got $250,000 for that.

I LOVED the Wii Fit.

[quote]I would love to see Sigourney play Ripley one more time. She's in amazing shape for her age, she could still do it.

She most likely is. She just talked about it last week. She’s had meetings with Disney for it.

[quote] I think these Oscar winning actresses pretty much play themselves and that works when they're the lead. The film is often a vehicle for them. So of they are then a supporting player they are too well known to disappear into that character.

It's easier when they're actually trained actresses who can play a wide range of parts, like Meryl Streep and Glenn Close and Maggie Smith. It's harder when they're mostly famous for just playing one persona, like Julia Roberts.

Most of Meryl's work doesn't have legs.

Prada and Death Becomes Her are the two that have become most remembered by the general public. But her heavy hitting stuff like Sophie's Choice, Silkwood, Out of Africa, French Lieutenants Women, Bridges of Madison County have been largely forgotten.

Dunaway, Keaton and Fonda have resonated with the public in a much more personable way. With Meryl, it's like you're constantly being told how great she is.

It’s true. Common folk look at Faye Dunaway and see themselves reflected as if she were kin.

[quote]Dunaway, Keaton and Fonda have resonated with the public in a much more personable way.

Faye Dunaway has resonated with the public in a personable way?

Faye Dunaway. Personable.

Amazing.

R28 plus Glenda Jackson went back to the theater after her self imposed political exile to do Albee and Shakespeare, winning a Tony and another Emmy for a British film as a woman suffering from Alzheimer’s. She would not have been caught dead doing some of the dreck Keaton, Fonda and Field have done. There’s work for actress’s in all mediums in the 80ish age range, but you have to go where the quality work is. Not a few actresses focus on the theater instead. Helen Mirren has seem to overcome this, and by and large doesn’t do crap.

[quote]Faye Dunaway has resonated with the public in a personable way?

Mommie Dearest is a beloved classic in the gay community. Constantly quoted, constantly performed in drag shows. People will be dressing up as Faye's interpretation of Bonnie Parker for Halloween or the latest model will be synthesizing shades of it for the next photo shoot.

No one's doing Kramer vs. Kramer drag shows or wearing Florence Foster Jenkins costumes this year.

I know this is supposed to be a gay site, but with the hetero housewife bent some of these threads take, I'm starting to think it's becoming more I Village by the day.

[quote]R5 One reason is, i think, an absolute lack of serious films, with roles for older women (and men).

Agreed.

I did notice that LET THEM ALL TALK had some good roles for older actresses. It was a pleasure to watch them.

[quote]Dunaway, Keaton and Fonda have resonated with the public

Nice try, Faye. Meryl is hip with kids. No one remembers Dunaway. Fonda is a joke known for a Netflix series and Diane’s obituaries label her the woman from “The First Wives Club.”

Helen Sharp is out of the loony bin.

[quote]Meryl is hip with kids.

And Gloria Estefan is huge with the under 30 crowd as well!

I think it’s fair to say all ages know her because of her movies and years of being in the public.

I’m enjoying committee work and am copying down your ideas.

R55 seriously believes that because there are still elderly drag queens in Palm Springs who dust off their "Don't Fuck With Me, Fellas!" routine they've been doing for decades, this means that Faye Dunaway is beloved, even more than Meryl Streep. That doesn't make her beloved, that makes her a camp figure.

Dunaway still garners some respect from those who remember her because she starred in three undeniable classics, but her persona on screen was always cold as ice and her persona off screen was that of a holy terror who should be avoided at all costs. Those aren't characteristics of someone who resonates in a personable way.

It isn't straight women who think this way, it's anyone who has an ounce of common sense. If Dunaway were that beloved by the public, she wouldn't have been relegated to little-known, low-budget productions decades ago. (The star of her next one? Kevin Spacey).

If you're a stage actress like Jessica Tandy, you can go back to the stage where there are heaps of good roles in the canon for women aged 55-to-death, and where actors of both genders of that age are respected. If a good movie role comes up you can take it, but you can reject boring frau stuff because you've got better things to do.

That's why all those British dames are still cropping up in (largely good) movies almost to the end of their lives. The UK and Ireland also do seem to make a lot of smaller, quality films and series that feature older women in leading or prominent roles.

[quote] If you're a stage actress like Jessica Tandy, you can go back to the stage where there are heaps of good roles in the canon for women aged 55-to-death, and where actors of both genders of that age are respected.

There's just not nearly as much theater work in the US the way there used to be in Jessica Tandy's day.

[quote] She always played Diane Keaton.

So very wrong.

I think older women take these crummy roles because they love the work, no matter how trifling the project. We know Keaton had other interests and didn't need the money, it seems reasonable to assume she continued to act because she loved doing it.

I. Am being BLAKCL ISTED from Hollywood because of my AGE and THE BELLS!

I agree, r12. The longest Meryl ever went between nominations was 5 years until recently. She hasn’t been nominated since 2017.

Meryl’s in her late 70s and has three Oscars. She isn’t trying to give the performance of a lifetime at this point. She’s doing projects that she thinks are interesting to keep her occupied and to stay connected with people she likes working with.

You know Meryl would roll naked through a pool of mustard to get another win.

France’s McDormand ties Hepburn with the most Oscar’s for an actress and bests Meryl with Best Actress trophies.

I wish Meryl would get more politically active. Her acceptance speeches where she trashed Dump were some of her best work.

Sarah Lancashire was a much better Julia Child than Meryl, who wanted to ensure that beings on Jupiter could see her performance.

France seems to value aging actresses more than other countries. Good example is Francois Ozon's latest film, WHEN AUTUMN COMES, with lead roles for Josiane Balasko (aged 74) and Hélène Vincent (aged 81).

But then, the French still like to see movies that aren't predictable franchise superhero blockbusters.

[quote]Good example is Francois Ozon's latest film, WHEN AUTUMN COMES

I think you mean When Fall Is Coming

It’s nice gay men have interest in elder actresses, when in reality they have no elderly female friends.

What are you talking about?

[quote]You know Meryl would roll naked through a pool of mustard to get another win.

Shut up! That's MY next movie!