A new survey by Age Without Limits has revealed that top-grossing films in the UK are four times more likely to feature a talking animal than a woman over 60. The anti-ageism campaign examined the 100 highest-performing films released in the UK in 2023, 2024, and 2025, finding that while five films starred an older woman, about 20 featured anthropomorphic creatures.
Stark Disparities in Representation
The study also found that six films starred a male actor named Chris, with Chris Pratt accounting for half. Other Chrises included Chris Pine and Chris Hemsworth in big-budget blockbusters, while Christian Friedel co-led the arthouse film The Zone of Interest. The five films starring older women in the top 100 were Allelujah, My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3, Book Club: The Next Chapter, The Substance, and Freakier Friday.
Lower down the box office chart, titles such as Hard Truths, I'm Still Here, and Thelma demonstrated that films starring older women can also achieve critical success. Notably, Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy, the second highest-grossing film of 2025 in the UK, would have qualified had its star Renée Zellweger been three years older.
Industry Losses and Missed Opportunities
The period coincides with the death or retirement of several popular older British actresses, including Maggie Smith, Joan Plowright, Glenda Jackson, Judi Dench, and Vanessa Redgrave. Jackson's final film, The Great Escaper, did not make the cut as she was a co-star rather than the lead.
Emma Thompson, 67, commented: '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 on ageing women, we are compelling, relatable, and overdue for centre stage.' Thompson starred in Dead of Winter (2025), which grossed only $112,006 in the UK, and Good Luck to You, Leo Grande (2022), which took $1.3 million despite pandemic-era cinema struggles.
Public Appetite for Older Female Leads
The Centre for Ageing Better, which runs the Age Without Limits campaign, polled 4,000 people. One in six said they would be more likely to see a film with an older female lead, while 33% felt too few such films exist. Only 3% believed too many films starred older women.
Dr Carole Easton, chief executive at the Centre for Ageing Better, said: 'It is absolutely ludicrous to think so few films have been made in recent years that have an older woman at the front and centre. Up to one in five UK cinema attendees are aged 55 and above, spending hundreds of millions annually. The representation of older actors in major film roles is disproportionate to their audience share, and the lack of representation is insulting.'
She added: 'Sadly, it extends beyond cinema. In many media and employment sectors, older women's input is minimised. We must push back against ageism and its intersection with sexism by demanding diverse representation.'
Previous Research and Systemic Issues
Earlier research by the charity, analysing 1,200 speaking characters across 50 films from 2010 to 2022, found only one in three characters was aged 50 or over. Female characters 65 and older were more than three times less likely to appear than men of the same age. Women over 50 also spoke 14% less than older men. Researchers criticised the film industry's efforts, noting the scarcity of women in their 70s and 80s on screen.
Harriet Bailiss, co-lead of Age Without Limits, said: 'By failing to represent older people, especially older women, the film industry pushes them to society's margins. This reinforces the idea that older people matter less, contributing to feelings of invisibility.'
Oscars and Future Prospects
New research from March found that Michelle Yeoh's historic Oscar win at age 60 in 2023 may have paved the way for better representation. Only seven women over 60 have won the leading actress Oscar, with just two over 70. The average age of best actress nominees has risen from 33 in the 1940s to 44 so far this decade.
Potential older Oscar contenders next year include Julianne Moore (65), Marion Bailey (75), and Ellen Burstyn (93). Meanwhile, Meryl Streep's The Devil Wears Prada sequel ranks fourth among highest-grossing UK films, trailing Michael, Project Hail Mary, and The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, which stars both Chris Pratt and talking animals.
