First of all, I love the new show The Fix. It’s trashy good and it leans into it without going overboard or taking itself too seriously. It’s co-created by Marcia Clark and has some commonalities with her unsuccessful prosecution of OJ Simpson. It features a prosecutor, Maya Travis, returning to LA after the girlfriend of actor Sevvy Johnson, who was exonerated of his wife’s murder 11 years ago, turns up dead. Maya was the original prosecutor, there’s a corrupt lawyer representing Sevvy, and there are so many great twists and turns. There is a wish fulfillment element to it, but it’s still awesome. Everyone I’ve told to watch this has loved it. We still don’t know who the murderer is either, but my mom and I have a theory I’m not going to post here because of spoilers.
Robin Tunney stars and I assumed she was ten years younger because she just looks great and not too filled or Botoxed. She’s my age though at 46. On Busy Tonight she said she gets sent scripts for grandmother roles because she’s over 40. I can’t imagine that! She also said that it’s nice to work on a show created by women where they make an older woman sexy and desirable.
[Maya is] a middle-aged woman who a lot of men want to sleep with… she’s vibrant. After I did The Mentalist I started getting these scripts [including one] for a grandma. And they’d be like ‘well you’re over 40 it’s kinda the same thing. I played Finn Wittrock’s mother in a movie and he’s like 37 or something. [Ed note: he’s 34 but still.]
I finally found a show created by women and they decided you can be 45 and men still want you.
Hollywood it’s a crazy thing they try to do with women. They put you in a box.
After that Robin told a story about the two other child actors in Chicago that she competed with when they were growing up and how she’s doing better than both of them. Busy said “I love a bitch that holds a grudge.” And you wonder why I like Busy! Also Robin said she played the hooker that Corky on Life Goes On lost his virginity to. (True story, I dated the son of the creator of that show.) Plus she was in Encino Man (loved that movie). She said that she had to borrow $60 from her neighbor Joe in 1991 for gas to go to that audition because she was so broke. Busy tracked Joe down and the brought him on the show! Joe moved to NY and he’s a playwright. Busy paid him back for Robin. You can see that clip here it’s so fun.
As for Robin’s story, the more I hear from actors, the more insane that industry sounds. This story reminds me of Amy Schumer’s “last f’kable day” skit, which is funny and sad at the same time. I just watched it again and cracked up. I’m glad there are more shows being created and run by women. That seems to be more the case on TV than in cinema. Also watch The Fix you won’t regret it!
Here’s the part of Robin’s interview where she talks about being typecast for being over 40:
Photos credit: WENN
Hollywood is sexist and outdated trash Part 4,962. 🙄
Weird aside though, I did know a woman who had her daughter at 17, and then that daughter had a baby at 18. So she was a grandmother at 35. (It really wasn’t a good situation, but they’ve managed). However considering the far greater number of women I knew at 35 were just considering having or having their first child (so would have been mothers to at most 11 year olds at 46) ….Hollywood can f**k right off with this nonsense.
I know several women in the same boat. Grandmothers in their 30s. One was just 32. It’s weird to me, but they all seem happy with their grandkids. It does seem like it would be more fun to be a young active grandma.
Hypothetically I get that it could be fun, but as far as the example I cited it was not a great thing at all. Two generations of family with interrupted education (and having to give up their original career goals, which would have been very achievable otherwise), two generations struggling with a low income, and losing out on a lot of dreams they both had of travelling and seeing the world etc. And just as mother had raised her daughter and maybe had a chance to live out some new adventures she was more than young enough for…she had to help with her grandkids. It’s complicated because there was tremendous love there….Let’s just say I certainly never envied her early grand-motherhood.
There’s no one right path, and honestly as I said below it’s not a problem so much that she’s asked to play grandmothers…it’s that your Affleck, Damon, DiCaprio, or Cruise are not being asked. Hell it took the embarrassment of the Mummy for Cruise to finally have a love interest over 40 (for the Top Gun sequel). Double standard all the way.
When I was 34, I had my one and only child. When my younger sister was 34, she became a grandmother. She had her first child at age 17. When her daughter was 17, she had her child. It’s crazy, but it’s more common than I realized.
Robin looks great and looks at least 10 years younger.
I was a grandmother at 36, with family support and encouragement my daughter graduated from university and has a successful career. My eldest granddaughter is now 20 years old and the light of my life. My daughter recently celebrated her 11th wedding anniversary and last weekend I went shopping with my 10 year-old granddaughter. My oldest granddaughter does not have plans to have children until she’s in her thirties, she informed me she intends to have a life of own while she’s young enough to enjoy it. My youngest granddaughter thinks children are annoying, messy and wants no part in changing diapers..I hope it stays that way for the next twenty years
I’m 42, and at least 3-4 people I went to school with are grandparents already. And one who had a kid at 17/18 just had another at 42! I get exhausted just thinking about it.
But unless the story is about a woman who had a kid young, who also had a kid young, there’s no need to cast Robin as a grandmother. Stupid Hollywood nonsense.
My mom was a grandmother at 43 and my sisters were grandmas at 41 and 36 respectively, so it does happen. But this is stupid, especially since so many women are becoming first time mothers at her age.
Last night, my husband turned on Jonah Hex. I’ve never seen it. When they showed Josh Brolin’s love interest, I was like “Is that Megan Fox??” Then I went on for 15 minutes about f***ing Hollywood and pairing up a middle aged man with a woman 20 years his junior. Because in Holly wood, mean can age and not be passed over for roles. But with woman? Over 30, you’re no longer in the age range they’re looking for.
Agree with everything in this article, other than that she “looks about 35”. She does not. She looks about 50. She looks great, but she totally looks her age.
I think she looks 46, which is fine. She’s pretty
Yeah, I agree. I hate when we try to compliment women by saying they look a younger age, just because they look great. She can be 45 and look fantastic, and still look her age.
Good point. I look my age , which is 49, but I tell people I’m a 29 year old who has had a hard time on the booze.
She does look her age and great! It’s refreshing.
Agreed. She looks her age – aren’t we feeding the problem by thinking that looking great means she looks younger than 40?
I agree -she looks just as she should for her age, and that’s good!
She looks her age, not 35, but there’s nothing wrong with that. We as a whole got to stop using “she’s 40 but looks 20!” as compliments for women, mainly because it normalizes the whole exercise of young is superior. “She looks fabulous” shouldn’t come with an asterisk of “young.”
Ok I’ll take it out then
Oh, you don’t have to! It was more of a general concern of how we’re all complicit in how we tend to compliment women.
@Sash I love it when people tell me I look younger so that’s why I’m inclined to write it, but I get that people don’t like when I do that so I’ll try to stop. I should have remembered.
Agreed. And when dudes try to flirt by using that line, I’m done. Looking younger than my age is not a compliment. I’m trying to be 20 or 30 and I don’t want to go back in time. I worked fucking hard for these 46 years and if that’s reflected in my face and body, then great!
It’s weird,this middle age thing.Biologically,at 43 I could be a grandmother (am not)but I could also have a baby .😳
I’m 33 and have a 1 and 3 year old….I also have friends who are my age with kids in high school!!! LOL Some days I feel ‘80’ and others not a day over a teenager. 😂 Age to me is really just how I feel. I have always been healthy but I need to get back on my yoga/walking/workout train so I can feel good when I’m older. Having babies has aged me…all the sleepless night. Ooof.
Thanks for recommending – will check it out today.
At 50, in the eyes of many I am old. I work with a senior citizens and to them I am very young so it’s an interesting place to be. Agree re the plastic surgery. Was watching some badly made Canadian filmed movies and really noticed the cosmetic work on the male actors. It was so obvious and badly done. Surely natural aging is better than that?
I’m 46 and proud to be a vibrant f*ckable grandmother. It’s not a big deal. I’m not sure why Hollywood gets so butthurt.
Because how many grandfathers has Matt Damon played at 48? How about Ben Affleck at 46? Tom Cruise at 56? Depp at 55? I’ll give you a hint. Oh and do you think DiCaprio is going to start playing grandfathers next year?
It’s not the fact that someone can’t be a vital and wonderful grandparent in their 40s (of course they can!); it’s that this is just another piece of a MASSIVE sexist double standard.
Mia45 I was going to come here to say just that. Yes I have several friends who were grandmothers in their forties who enjoyed being told they didn’t look old enough but of course you can be. However it is insulting when you know those actors you mentioned would never be asked to play a grandpa. Or of those you mentioned even the parent of an adult.
Yep. I recall when Maggie Gyllenhaal said that she read for a role opposite a 55-year-old actor, and they rejected her because at 36 she was “too old” and therefore “not believable enough” to play his wife. Yeah, a 19-year age gap is just not enough for a “youthful and virile” 55-year-old man. Better make it a *much more believable* 30-year age gap. Yeah, that’s much more likely. 🙄
I would feel bad for Robin but then I remember that she was complicit in attending multiple fan events at conventions for “The Craft” that left out Rachel True. Tunney along with Fairuza Balk and Neve Campbell should have faced stronger criticism about doing that. Racism along with sexism in the industry is a big issue.
@Kylie, Rachel True, to my knowledge, has never said that she blames them for that. Unless they’re in constant contact with Rachel, they wouldn’t know she was being left out until they showed up for the event or right before it, when they have already signed contracts to appear. Rachel recently said that Fairuza did tell her that she was being left out of an event. But overall this is a problem with the organizers of the cons and originally it was a problem with the studio sending the other three out to do promo events but not Rachel. Anyway, Rachel has not blamed her castmates for this problem, so until she does, not sure it’s fair to point the finger at them when they’re talent just like she is and not the people planning the cons. If she comes out and says they’re culpable, then I’ll change my tune. But she seems cool with both Fairuza and Neve. Doesn’t seem like she and Robin are close but not enemies either.
They showed up to multiple events where this happened. They should have known after the first time that there was a problem. Blame can be spread around. The organized should have the majority of the blame but the other actresses are not without responsibility here. They could have inquired about who was being invited prior to signing on and been vocal. Yet it took multiple events for one of them to even say anything to Rachel. Claiming to not know about something when it has happened multiple times is not an excuse. Tunney doesn’t get a pass from me.
True stated that Fairuza Balk is actually who alerted her to the fact that she was being left out of events, so she’s not quite as bad as the other two, but they do deserve to called out for it. I don’t know how anyone calls up the Craft cast and leave one of the girls out. Almost feels more egregious because her character’s plot line is her dealing with coded racism from white peers.
A grandmother at 46?? WTF!
I’m 43 and a grandmother to a beautiful 3 year old girl. I couldn’t be happier to be a grandmother 🤷🏼♀️ It happens.
Yes, star as yourself! (Sorry, incredibly cheesy reference to your name, which I love!) I had my first child at 20, and my mom had me at 23, so she was also a 43 year old grandmother. The upside is that she got to be young with her grandkids and very involved in their lives for a long time, and she is still young now as they become adults. Different paths and all that.
Sally, I believe you and several on here are missing the point. No one is stating you CANNOT be a grandmother at 46 and that you cannot be a sexy 46yr old grandmother. The actress is pointing out that she is being sent grandmother roles simply because she is 46! Her age is determining the roles she is being offered and as many have pointed out, this is not or would not be occurring with much older leading men who are being coupled up with women more than half their age on screen. Again, it’s physically possible and realistic to be a 46yr old grandmother…THAT IS NOT THE POINT of this story.
@jb Sometimes threads go slightly off topic without it meaning that no one is getting the point. It’s ok. The poster that Sally replied to seemed incredulous that a grandmother could be forty six. Sally replied, I made a short reply to Sally. That’s it. No one said they don’t agree with the fact that a forty six year old male actor would never be offered a grandfather role unless it was an interesting part of the plot or a flashback. Yes, agreed. By that logic, I guess you should go police the commenters who are posting about Rachel True, since “THAT IS NOT THE POINT of this story” either? That’s just as silly.
It’s possible that Rachel True let her former co-stars off the hook because she didn’t want to look like the angry Black woman. Unfortunately a lot of Black women let these kind of things slide out of concern of being stereotyped. I wish she had been harder on her ex-cast mates as well.
I agree Kylie.
Playing a grandmother is fine at her age. Some people have their kids young. The problem is more, I suspect, that those grandmother roles are often supporting roles rather than primary and active characters. Men are allowed to continue being interesting and engaging characters into their older years. Women have to be relegated to supporting categories when no longer provide a certain level of sexual objectification.
Man, I miss The Mentalist…
I second this
Yet, Clint Eastwood at 90 is rolling around with two babes in “The Mule.” Gotta cast, direct and star in your own movie.
Ew. I’m guessing he wrote and/or directed that, because no one else thinks the audience wants to see…that.
Yep. That’s what happens; meanwhile, men her age get cast as leading men opposite 25-year olds.
I’m starting to think the most radical thing a woman can do is age without putting anything into their face. She looks her age but also looks like she hasn’t had botox or very little.
I’m almost 49 and haven’t done any of it yet, and I’m torn with being a punk and not caring and looking in the mirror some mornings and saying “today is the day.”
Also my knees hurt.
Good times.
I’m 66 and I haven’t/won’t do anything to my face or hair. It’s my way of sticking the finger to the media/Hollyweird and their paternalistic view of women as useless when they’re older or relegated to “granny” roles while their male counterparts still play the sexy leading man.
But I do groan when I sit down or stand up – lower back pain sucks.
Well…I joke that this is how Southern I am:
Okay, I graduated HS at 17 and joined the Air Force.
Had to get out of that one horse town and see and do some stuff.
I married at 19 and had a baby at 20.
My son married at 22 to a lady several years older who already had a small son.
So, I became a Grandma at 40 and I was p.g. with my surprise baby they told me I’d never have.
Still with me?
My daughter-in-law was a “little” p.g. with my granddaughter, so, we were p.g. at the same time.
What? ?
Steve Martin and Diane Keaton did a whole movie about that and they were wealthy Californians!
I’m a younger Grandma to three.
My granddaughter and my youngest are 2 months apart in age and are BFFs.
That little grandson of mine, got a scholarship to pitch for a major university ball team and my youngest has a scholarship for a BS in Science.
I’m so proud I could bust!
Also, people don’t think I’m as old as I am which is nice but I don’t really care.
I’ve had a very interesting life and I’ve got underwear older than some of you. 😉
Lol, that was a funny movie
Same old Hollywood b.s.
My cousin was a grammy at 35. She gave birth at 14. I know that’s a uncommon situation but it’s not unique to see grandmothers only their late 40s.
I always thought she has had injections in her lips, I find her mouth/lips distracting. But I seem to be the only one saying this, so maybe it’s just me.
This is ridiculous!!!!!! Men are NOT cast as Grandfathers at 46. Women shouldn’t be either at most times. If your “son” is being played by a 37 year old man and you are 46??? That is insane and the result of a male dominated industry devoid of true understanding of women’s whole lives. Yay women show runners! Yay diversity! This is why we need it, for a more accurate portrayal of the society we all know. Not many people have a parent 10 years older than them. 😜
Some posters pointing out that we shouldn’t use “looking younger than her age” to attribute women a higher level of attractiveness, made me think. As far as grey hair is concerned, the same double standard is applied. George Clooney and other male actors don’t dye their hair unless a role would require them to do so. Grey hair making them appear their age or older doesn’t result in them being seen as unsexy (or offered grandpa roles).
Salt-and-pepper beards are perceived as very attractive and hot by many even though in general a beard, and one with grey in it in particular, makes a man look older or at least more mature. So, possibly looking even older than their actual age does not automatically make men less attractive, it just makes them look “manly”.
Yeah, women of all ages can look their age and just look great and sensual! Helen Mirren comes to mind…