Monica Bellucci Quotes

I was comfortable in my thirties playing the romantic partner, the hero that saves the day, or the woman who is facing a world that revolves around younger kid actors.

The movies that I did in the '80s were either good or bad, but I never was oppressed with any feeling - I mean, I thought it was ridiculous to play high school or college students when I was 30. But at the same time, that was really done then.

There is this thing in America where actresses reach 40 and go mad. The film industry wants all these young people.

Once you get into your 40s, you're no longer leading-lady age. Generally, those roles get offered to women in their 20s and 30s.

Hollywood is not good when it comes to age.

If you're a lead actor, people are just waiting to say 'you're too old' or 'you're too unhip.' If you're a supporting actor, you can just work forever.

Older actors can still play young, but it's harder for young actors to be able to play that age range.

There are younger directors, and anybody over 30 is ancient to them, because they're not that old.

Eventually I lost the idea that I could have a career. I thought I was too old.

Yeah I'm thirty-six, but on the show I'm thirty-two. Nobody wants to watch a thirty-six year old woman, so they decided to make me thirty-two. Much more appealing somehow.

Soaps are one of the few areas on TV that really embrace older women. In drama, there's this ridiculous invisibility for women between the ages of 40 and 60. Unless you're old enough to play a grandmother, there just aren't the roles.

The fact of the matter is that we're all aging, and there's this stigma that older actresses don't work as much as younger actresses, and I don't think that's true anymore.

In the U.S., with very few exceptions, actresses older than 35 are simply discarded.

In human years I am 29. In actress years I'm the ripe, promising age of 18 to 35. That's how it works here in Hollyweird.

I have been really lucky to play roles younger than myself for most of my career.

What's worse in Hollywood, being handicapped or being a woman over 50?

It used to be that when an actress reached thirty, she was considered almost washed up.

It's hard to get older as an actress. You see a lot of people, especially in L.A., chasing youth.

I am older than most of my on-screen colleagues, and the ones behind the scenes, too.

For any female actor, the age between 35 to 45 is treacherous. Filmmakers tell me, I am at that awkward age. No parts are written for women in this age bracket, while men at that age flourish and have great careers.

There still seems to be a lack of film for the baby boomer generation, if you'd like to call it that. And I think 'Martin Bonner' showed what's possible. Later in life, when you've been working at something for a long time, to actually get some kudos for what you do is wonderful.

People are not used to seeing an older woman on screen, unless she's playing a character role. Why can't they make a movie about a woman who's forty-five who's falling in love or getting divorced? Why does the leading role always have to be a woman who's twenty-three or twenty-eight?

I don't reflect on sort of the age of the roles that I get. It's usually just what plays into what's believable - 'Am I believable at this age?'

I'm just a pack mule. I've played leads and I've played character roles. Any actress in Hollywood will tell you as your age climbs, the leads thin.

There's ageism in everything. I don't give a hoot. It isn't what other people think; it's what you think. But it's hard to come to terms with getting older. I admire people like Vivienne Westwood.