Maggie Gyllenhaal, 37, was told she was “too old” to play a 55-year-old’s love interest

By Katie Rife | May 21, 2015 | 9:52pm

Aux Features Film

One of the many ridiculous things actresses put up with in order to pursue their chosen professions is a rapid narrowing of the kinds of roles they can play as they age. Meryl Streep and Jessica Chastain had something to say about ageism when Russell Crowe made some rather insensitive comments about it earlier this year, and now Maggie Gyllenhaal has come forward with a personal anecdote about the kind of absurd logic that goes into Hollywood casting decisions.

Gyllenhaal told The Wrap earlier this week that she was recently turned down for a role because she was seen as “too old” to play the love interest of a 55-year-old man. Gyllenhaal is 37. “It was astonishing to me. It made me feel bad, and then it made me feel angry, and then it made me laugh,” Gyllenhaal says.