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Russell Crowe: Actresses should act their age

At 50, Russell Crowe shows no sign of slowing down on the big screen. He starred in four feature films in 2014, and he's already completed  filming his first release of 2015, "Fathers and Daughters." So, if he can keep his career going strong as the years go by, so can any actress — or so he seems to believe.In a recent interview with Australia's Women's Weekly, Crowe declared that there are p
Image: Russell Crowe
EPA file
Image: Russell Crowe
Russell Crowe.Gaye Gerard / Today

At 50, Russell Crowe shows no sign of slowing down on the big screen. He starred in four feature films in 2014, and he's already completed  filming his first release of 2015, "Fathers and Daughters." 

So, if he can keep his career going strong as the years go by, so can any actress — or so he seems to believe.

In a recent interview with Australia's Women's Weekly, Crowe declared that there are plenty of parts "for people in all different stages of life," including actresses who've long insisted the parts fade away as they grow older.

"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," he said.

And to prove his point, Crowe name-checked a couple of accomplished women over 60 who frankly have few peers sharing the same success at that time of life.

"Meryl Streep will give you 10,000 examples and arguments as to why that's bull----, so will Helen Mirren, or whoever it happens to be," he said of the idea that there's a rarity of roles for older women.

But if the actor had listened to what Streep has had to say on the subject in the past, he might find she doesn't offer thousands of examples to support his claim.

In 2012, Streep spoke to NPR about Hollywood's history with women over a certain age, and while she felt things had improved, especially for her, she added "not completely, not for everybody."

And in a 2011 interview with the BBC, Mirren called herself "incredibly lucky" to be among the women over a certain age who've continued to gain success in an industry that "is always going to love youth and beauty."

Still, according to Crowe, "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 didn't comment on Tinseltown's love of age-mismatched romances, with young leading ladies often appearing on screen alongside much older men. Instead, he said told Women's Weekly it's all about acceptance.

"The point is you do have to be prepared to accept that there are stages in life," he insisted. 

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