Streaming platforms are currently providing more opportunities for women behind the scenes than traditional broadcast networks, with historic highs for women creators in the 2024-25 season. Ongoing Challenges
The spotlight at the 2026 Cannes Film Festival was stolen by legendary stars, including Joan Collins (92) in striking sculpture gowns, Jane Fonda (88) in sequined fashion, and Isabella Rossellini (73), showcasing that mature women command the spotlight through enduring talent and style.
Shows like Poker Face (Natasha Lyonne, 45, playing a human lie detector) and Hacks (Jean Smart, 73, playing a legendary Las Vegas comic) are no longer anomalies—they are the new standard. Jean Smart is having the best run of her career at 73, winning Emmys for roles that are sharp, sexual, funny, and vulnerable. neighbours milf free
The sustained momentum of mature women in entertainment signals a permanent cultural shift. Cinema is finally acknowledging that a woman's narrative does not conclude when she leaves her youth behind; rather, it enters its most compelling, complex, and cinematic chapter.
But the tide began to turn when audiences started demanding stories that reflected their own lives. The success of films and shows featuring women over 50 proved a financial reality that studios had long ignored: women over forty are the most underutilized demographic in media, yet they hold significant purchasing power and consumer influence. Jean Smart is having the best run of
While Hollywood commands the global spotlight, the struggle for representation of mature women is being waged on screens everywhere. In Europe, the AGE-C research project has constructed a relational database of 6,144 films and 13,356 persons from the film industries of Croatia, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Romania, Slovenia, Spain, and the UK between 2014 and 2023. The project investigates both on-screen representation and the career trajectories of aging stars within Europe’s diverse film industries, revealing that the marginalization of older women is not an American problem but a global one.
This is the long view of mature women in entertainment and cinema—where we have been, how far we have come, and the formidable road still ahead. But the tide began to turn when audiences
The takeaway is sobering. In 1998, women comprised 17% of individuals working in behind-the-scenes roles on top-grossing films. In 2024, that figure had crept up to 23%—an increase of just six percentage points in 27 years. As Lauzen herself has noted, the long-term trends in women’s employment are often lost in year-to-year fluctuations that reveal increases of a couple of percentage points one year only to be followed by decreases the next.
: The small screen is also witnessing a renaissance. At the 2025 Emmys, 13 women over the age of 50 were nominated for their performances, with icons like Jean Smart (74), Jamie Lee Curtis (66), and Jodie Foster (62) all taking home awards. Jane Seymour, at 74, stars in Harry Wild , playing a retired literature professor who becomes an amateur detective, refusing to fade into the background.
Against this grim backdrop, a remarkable counter-narrative has emerged. The 2025 awards season marked a watershed moment. At the Oscars, Demi Moore (62), Karla Sofía Gascón (52), and Fernanda Torres (59) were three of the five nominees for Best Actress in a Leading Role—the first time since 2007 that three women over 50 had received that honor. Angelina Jolie and Kate Winslet, both 49, were the youngest nominees for Best Actress in a Drama at the Golden Globes, among a cohort that included Pamela Anderson, Nicole Kidman, and Tilda Swinton. Moore won Best Actress in a Comedy. The recently concluded Golden Globes saw seven of the coveted Best Actress awards go to women over the age of 40.