This disparity is even more pronounced in film. An analysis of the top 100 movies of 2024 found that among characters over the age of 40, women represented only 23.8%, a figure that has remained virtually unchanged since 2007. A separate UK study from 2025 showed that female characters over 65 were three times less likely to appear in British films than men in the same age bracket and, when they did appear, they spoke up to 14% less on screen. Research from the Centre for Aging Better even found that a woman over 60 is less likely to appear in a movie than a talking animal in a lead role.
: Series like Hacks (starring Jean Smart) and Grace and Frankie (Lily Tomlin and Jane Fonda) tackle topics previously deemed taboo: late-stage career reinvention, sexuality in later life, and the deep complexities of female friendship.
This disparity is even more pronounced in film. An analysis of the top 100 movies of 2024 found that among characters over the age of 40, women represented only 23.8%, a figure that has remained virtually unchanged since 2007. A separate UK study from 2025 showed that female characters over 65 were three times less likely to appear in British films than men in the same age bracket and, when they did appear, they spoke up to 14% less on screen. Research from the Centre for Aging Better even found that a woman over 60 is less likely to appear in a movie than a talking animal in a lead role.
: Series like Hacks (starring Jean Smart) and Grace and Frankie (Lily Tomlin and Jane Fonda) tackle topics previously deemed taboo: late-stage career reinvention, sexuality in later life, and the deep complexities of female friendship.