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UK study reveals sad truth about what you're more likely to see than women over 60 in films
The startling new research has been backed by Dame Emma Thompson to call out ageism in the industry.
Scott Kowalchyk/CBS via Getty Images
- Tilly Pearce
Published: Tuesday, 26 May 2026 at 12:24 pm
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Dame Emma Thompson has spoken out after a new study revealed you’re more likely to see an actor named Chris on screen than you are a woman over 60.
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The new survey, conducted for Age Without Limits, looked into the 100 highest-grossing films across the years 2023, 2024 and 2025, and discovered startling facts about what’s more likely to appear on screen.
Of the films, six were led by a man named Chris (including Pratt, Pine and Hemsworth) while only five starred a woman over the age of 60 in a leading role.
In fact, you’re also four times more likely to see a talking animal playing the lead role in a movie than you are a woman over 60.
Thompson – who has most recently appeared on our screens in Dead of Winter, Down Cemetery Road and The Sheep Detectives – has spoken out to call on the film industry to better represent older women on screen.
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In a statement released via Age Without Limits, Thompson said: “Women are half the population and we get older. So where are the stories about us? The older we get, the more interesting we are.
“I want to see more films centre aging women. We are compelling, relatable and overdue for centre stage.
“Older women don’t need permission to exist on screen. They already exist in the world, cinema just needs to catch up.”
The new study was carried out by the University of West London School of Film, Media and Design, led by Professor Dennis A. Olsen.
Freakier Friday, starring Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan, was one of the few major films released in the UK over the past three years to feature a female lead actor over the age of 60. Glen Wilson
It falls in line with previous research by Cast Aside who, in 2023, revealed only one-in-three speaking characters on screen were over the age of 50.
Female characters over the age of 65 were three times less likely than men in that age bracket to appear in British films, and even if they were, would speak up to 14 per cent less than their male counterparts on screen.
When they were, they were often comedy characters who “failed to act their age” or were considered passive characters that were often unconnected to the central plot.
Jennifer Saunders in Allelujah. Pathé UK
Following the new research results, Harriet Bailiss, co-lead of the Age Without Limits campaign, said: “By failing to properly represent older people, and older women in particular, the film industry is actively participating in the pushing of older people to the margins of society.
“For many older people who have come to question their value through internalising the ageism they see around them every day in society, this lack of representation will reinforce the idea that older people matter less as they get older.
“No wonder so many women talk about feeling invisible as they get older when they don’t see themselves reflected back in popular culture or advertising.”
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Authors
Tilly PearceFreelance Writer
Tilly Pearce is a freelance TV journalist whose coverage ranges from reality shows like Love Is Blind to sci-fi shows like Fallout. She is an NCTJ Gold Standard accredited journalist, who has previously worked as Deputy TV Editor (maternity cover) at Digital Spy, and Deputy TV & Showbiz Editor at Daily Express US.
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