Geena Davis says male actor told her she was too old for romantic lead despite being 20 years younger than him
‘Male stars of movies want to appear to be younger than they are,’ Davis said
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Geena Davis has said that a potential male co-star didn’t approve of her casting because he thought she was too old.
However, at the time, Beetlejuice star Davis was 20 years younger than the unnamed actor.
‘It’s very strange and so prevalent,’ she said of ageism while speaking to Allison Kugel on the Allison Interviews podcast.
“A certain male actor that was making a movie said that I was too old to be his romantic interest, and I was 20 years younger than him.”
Davis, who won an Oscar for Thelma & Louise in 1992, didn’t say who the actor was and what film it was that she was hoping to be cast in.
“Women peak in their 20s and 30s, and men peak in their 40s and 50s as far as actors go,” Davis continued. “So the male stars of the movies want to appear to be younger than they are, or they want to appeal to younger people, so they always want a co-star who is really young.
“That is why that happens and that is why women don’t get cast very much after 40 and 50. It is because they are felt to be too old to be a romantic interest.”
Davis also says she had a “rocky time” with two directors after winning an Oscar as they “wanted to make sure” she knew her “place”.
“I had two directors, after I won the Oscar, who I had a rocky start with because they assumed that I was going to think I was ‘all that,’ and they wanted to make sure that I didn’t feel like I was ‘all that,’” she explained.
“Without having met me or having spent any time with me or anything, they just assumed I was going to be like, ‘Well, now no one is going to tell me what to do!’”
In 2004, Davis founded the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media, which researches gender representation in media and advocates for equal representation of women.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments