Why older women are invisible in Hollywood, by Helen Mirren

London: The reason as to why older women do not get noticed in Hollywood has been put down to the fact that the vast majority of writers are male.

Dame Helen Mirren, 65, spoke to an audience of fellow actresses in Los Angeles about the scarcity of roles for older women. “Hollywood film-making continues to worship at the altar of the 18- to 25-year old male and his penis. Quite small, I always think...” the Telegraph quoted her as saying. “Virtually every drama made for film, stage or television has 20 male characters to maybe one, two or, if you’re lucky, three female characters. “And that includes Shakespeare. Why do you think I had to play Prospero in The Tempest? I had to nick one of their roles,” she stated. She added, colleagues who worked “non-stop” from their 20s to their 40s suddenly found themselves invisible once they hit their 50s. ANI