Hollywood can be a tough place for aging actresses but according to Russell Crowe it’s not that hard.
In a new interview with Australia’s Women’s Weekly, the “The Water Diviner” actor had a few words to say about Hollywood actresses needing to act their age when it comes to getting roles.
“There are roles for people in all different stages of life,” explained Crowe when asked about the “best thing” about the movie industry. “To be honest, I think you’ll find that the woman who is saying that [the roles have dried up] is the woman who at 40, 45, 48, still wants to play the ingénue, and can’t understand why she’s not being cast as the 21 year old.”
In a world where botox, facelifts and wanting to look younger is part of everyday life Crowe sees that many women go about it in the wrong way in Tinsel Town. Though according to the actor there are a select few who know what they are doing.
“Meryl Streep will give you 10,000 examples and arguments as to why that’s bulls–t, so will Helen Mirren, or whoever it happens to be,” Crowe told the magazine . “If you are willing to live in your own skin, you can work as an actor. If you are trying to pretend that you’re still the young buck when you’re my age, it just doesn’t work.”
Crowe understands that aging is a non-stoppable process in life and in “The Water Diviner” he plays a father of three grown sons who are soldiers, something that he noted, “Couldn’t have played 20 years ago, not only because he wasn’t old enough, but also because he wasn’t then a father.”
“I have heard of an actress, part of her fee negotiation was getting the number of children she was supposed to have lessened. Can you believe this?,” explained the “Noah” actor. “This [character] was a woman with four children, and there were reasons why she had to have four children – mainly, she lived in a cold climate and there was nothing to do but fornicate all day – so quit arguing, just play the role!”
Growing up and being a father is also something that has helped him prepare for his roles and understands that some roles will soon be long gone for him,
“The point is, you do have to be prepared to accept that there are stages in life. So I can’t be the Gladiator forever.”
