(BPI) LOS ANGELES-Hollywood's preoccupation with youth is dramatically demonstrated in the Screen Actors Guild's latest employment statistics, which show that two of every three SAG acting jobs last year went to performers under age 40.
Actors and actresses who were 40 or older got 33.3% of SAG's film and TV jobs last year, although the numbers were much worse for older women than for older men.
According to SAG, 37% of all males cast in films and TV shows last year were 40 or older, but only 24% of the females cast in films and TV shows were in that age group.
The disparity is even sharper in the casting of leading roles. According to SAG, "just 21% of female leads were over 40, compared with 34% for male leads."
This lack of jobs for older actresses is compounded by the fact that men are traditionally cast in twice as many roles as women.
SAG first vp Amy Aquino said many older actresses are leaving show business because they can't find work.
"Women I've worked with who have won Academy Awards are looking for alternative careers because there's nothing out there for women in midlife," Aquino said. "Obviously, what we're seeing is that women get hit much harder and faster as they age in this industry. Women in their 40s and 50s find themselves competing for fewer and fewer jobs. Women who were big stars in their youth end up in the same casting rooms as the rank-and-file working actresses. It's a horrible, horrible, heart-breaking situation all around."
SAG's findings were based on 56,702 roles that were cast last year in film and TV productions.
Of those roles, 35,390 (62.4%) went to performers under age 40, while 18,854 (33.3%) went to performers 40 or older. The ages of 2,458 other performers were listed as "unknown."
Women under 40 were cast in 6,797 (75%) of the leading female roles last year, while women 40 and older got only 1,858 (20.1%) of the leading female roles. The ages of 349 other leading ladies were listed as "unknown."
SAG third vp Paul Napier said: "Among the mortal sins of our industry is the unwarranted discrimination against talented women over the age of 40. We owe these victims our full support in opening the producers' eyes."
There appears to be little difference between film and TV where ageism is concerned.
Women under 40 got 75.3% of TV's leading roles last year, and 77.4% of the leads on film. Men under 40 got 59.6% of the lead roles on TV last year and 62.2% of the lead roles on film.
"Each year," SAG spokeswoman Katherine Moore said, "as we review the figures and are again disappointed at the lack of improvement in the employment of women in general, and women over 40 in particular, we redouble our efforts to explore more innovative and effective means of reaching out to the decision-makers in the entertainment industry who have the power to affect these trends."
"These statistics indicate that we need to find more compelling ways to foster an appreciation and respect for the vitality, experience and wisdom of older people," said Patricia Heisser Metoyer, SAG's executive administrator of affirmative action. "The guild is attempting to create a more accepting and enlightened attitude about older adulthood. Hopefully, this will result in more employment for older performers."
David Robb writes for The Hollywood Reporter.