New Tricks star Amanda Redman, 65 today, is furious at how the showbiz industry treats women over 50.
The acclaimed actor is currently immersed in a directing stint at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
But she is outraged by how female performers are often dumped on the screen scrapheap once they reach their half-century.
The Good Karma Hospital star says: “As an actor, what you bring is your experience of life, too.
“You’ve lived and all the experiences that you’ve had in life inform the characters you play.
“And what’s wrong, I feel, is that my male peers don’t have the same issues. They do carry on. It’s an archaic way of looking at females.
“And, again, the demographic of people watching TV, for instance, actually, is women over the age of 50. And I am sure they would like to see themselves represented because when you watch something, you go, ‘Oh, I can really relate to that character’.
“Well, you’re not going to relate to a teenager, you’re going to relate to somebody who’s near your age.
“And so it seems to me to be very short-sighted. And it makes my blood boil. It’s so wrong. Many of us, many of my contemporaries, feel the same way as I do.”
She adds: “I get letters and things from women saying exactly that.
“That the under-representation of women of this age really does make women feel like they aren’t important anymore and that – from a mental health perspective – is very damaging.”
On her birthday today, Amanda is at the Fringe where she and friend David Threlfall are co-directing The Sneeze, Michael Frayn’s translation and adaptation of a collection of Anton Chekhov comedic stories and one-act plays.
The show will star Amanda’s protégés from her Artists Theatre School, which she founded in 1998.
She will be too busy fine-tuning the production to celebrate her 65th but has no regrets.
She said: “I don’t like birthdays. Not any more. So, on that day, I’m going to be in the theatre doing technical rehearsals until God knows what time.
“I shan’t be celebrating at all, I intend to ignore it!
“We’ll have a drink, I’m sure, but the following day we open, so I’ve got to keep my wits about me.
“Everything about this sort of milestone bothers me. I just don’t like it.”
On ageing, she says: “I don’t find there to be any redeeming factors at all. I hate it. Apart from the fact you physically start to change – and not just for vanity reasons… things start to hurt and ache. I’m a very energetic person, so that drives me potty. And you start losing people. That’s happened to me.”
The Mirror told last month how Amanda had struggled to cope with the loss of close friend and New Tricks co-star Dennis Waterman, saying: “I don’t really accept he’s not here any more.”
But away from work, Amanda is much more upbeat about life with her partner of 25 years, Damian Schnabel. She says: “He is incredibly supportive. I am so, so extremely lucky. You know, I just wish I could have met him much earlier. And so that’s great. All right, you’ve actually managed to make me think of something else!”
- Amanda Redman and David Threlfall are co-directing a collection of short plays from Michael Frayn’s The Sneeze at this year’s Edinburgh Festival. It runs from August 13-28 at the Gilded Balloon Patter Hoose Doonstairs.
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