Carrie-Anne Moss is describing the ageism she has faced in Hollywood.
The “Matrix” star had a conversation with author and filmmaker Justine Bateman about her new book Face: One Square Foot of Skin when Moss recalled her experience of being treated differently the moment she turned 40.
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“I had heard that at 40 everything changed,” said Moss as per THR. “I didn’t believe in that because I don’t believe in just jumping on a thought system that I don’t really align with. But literally the day after my 40th birthday, I was reading a script that had come to me and I was talking to my manager about it. She was like, ‘Oh, no, no, no, it’s not that role [you’re reading for], it’s the grandmother.’ I may be exaggerating a bit, but it happened overnight. I went from being a girl to the mother to beyond the mother.”
Moss said it was hard to deal with, particularly because male stars aren’t treated the same way.
“You don’t feel like you’ve aged much and suddenly you’re seeing yourself on screen,” she said. “I would look at these French and European actresses and they just had something about them that felt so confident in their own skin. I couldn’t wait to be that. I strive for that. It’s not easy being in this business. There’s a lot of external pressure.”
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But before we know it, Moss will be back on screen kicking butt in “Matrix 4” as Trinity opposite Keanu Reeves.
“Matrix 4” hits theatres and HBO Max on Dec. 22.
