Yesterday, 37-year-old actress Maggie Gyllenhaal told The Wrap that she was recently turned down for a role opposite a 55-year-old man because she was too old. “It was astonishing to me,” she said. “It made me feel bad, and then it made me feel angry, and then it made me laugh.”
This double dip of ageism and sexism becomes even more upsetting when paired with Gyllenhaal’s 2015 Golden Globes victory speech, in which she praises Hollywood for its authentic female roles.
"I've noticed a lot of people talking about the wealth of roles for powerful women in television lately,” she said. “What I think is new is the wealth of roles for actual women in television and in film. That's what I think is revolutionary and evolutionary and it's what's turning me on."
This year’s awards season felt, at the time, like a turning point for women in Hollywood. During **Patricia Arquette’**s acceptance speech for her Boyhood win, the actress took the opportunity to call for equal pay.
“To every woman who gave birth, to every tax payer and citizen of this nation: We have fought for everybody else’s equal rights. It’s our time to have wage equality once and for all and equal rights for women in the United States of America!”
The speech that launched a thousand celebratory GIFs seemed to speak directly to screen stalwart Meryl Streep. While Streep has earned more nominations than any actress ever, she is not without her battles against ageism and sexism. In a 2011 Vogue cover story, she recalled what it was like to turn forty. “I remember turning to my husband and saying, ‘Well, what should we do? Because it’s over.’” Streep was offered three roles the following year: all witches. “Once women passed childbearing age,” she said, “they could only be seen as grotesque on some level.” In April, Streep gave a “significant” contribution to a screenwriter's lab for women over 40 in the hopes of correcting the industry’s imbalance.
After countless studies and testimonials, this month, the ACLU requested that state and federal agencies launch a full-scale investigation of the lopsided hiring practices of major Hollywood studios, networks, and talent agencies. “Women directors aren’t working on an even playing field and aren’t getting a fair opportunity to succeed,” Melissa Goodman, director of the LGBTQ, Gender and Reproductive Justice Project at the ACLU of Southern California, told The New York Times.
While Gyllenhaal’s latest slight is depressingly in line with industry statistics, the actress is taking it in stride. “I don’t feel despairing at all,” she told The Wrap. “And I’m more looking with hope for something fascinating.” Here’s hoping she finds it, and if not, that there’s another melted ice cream carton at **Amy Schumer’**s table.
