From the mouth of a Dame! Helen Mirren sounded off on ageism in Hollywood, making her opinion heard at TheWrap's New York Power Breakfast on Tuesday, June 16.
The Oscar winner, 69, was speaking at the event when TheWrap editor Sharon Waxman mentioned a recent interview she did with Maggie Gyllenhaal, in which the star revealed that she was told she was "too old" at the age of 37 to play the lover of a 55-year-old man.
"Yes, I'm sure that's true," Mirren said. "I'm sure that's true. It's f–king outrageous. F–king outrageous! It's ridiculous, honestly. It's so annoying."
Mirren, who has been in the industry for more than 30 years, shows no sign of slowing down and has continued to nab coveted roles despite the deck being stacked against women over the age of 30.
"It's so annoying, and 'twas ever thus," the Hitchcock star continued. "We all sat there watching… as James Bond got more and more geriatric, and as his girlfriends got younger and younger. It's so annoying."
Mirren has been celebrated by her contemporaries for her outspoken stance on the issue over the years. In 2010, Halle Berry presented Mirren with The Hollywood Reporter's Sherry Lansing Leadership Award, and emphasized Mirren's refusal to be aged out of opportunities.
"The thing I want to say is that the last bastion of civil rights in the movie business is ageism," Berry said at the time. "And Helen, you have single-handedly, all by yourself, broken down that barrier because you can age, you can do films that are successful and you can still be hot as hell!"
