I think it's about time someone had a serious word with Hollywood casting agents, especially given the latest news. We don't talk enough about the gender pay gap in Hollywood as it is, and now there's another inequality to add to the list: the age gap between Hollywood stars and their female counterparts. In particular, we're focussing on an ageing Tom Cruise and his much younger co-stars.
There are so many of examples of productions where Hollywood has casted young, fresh, out of the oven, female talents with already established male actors. However, thanks to Film School Rejects and their in-depth study of Tom Cruise (as an example), we've been able to see just how big this age gap problem is; in the actor's last two projects, there was a 22 year age gap. Cruise acted alongside Annabelle Wallis in 'The Mummy', and Sarah Wright in 'American Made', both films premiered this year.
The findings of the study only reinforce a long-standing Hollywood prejudice against ageing women and older actresses. It's very rare to find such actresses in an action film for example, and when they do appear, they often have very little dialogue. Comparatively, older male actors normally play similar roles to those when they first started out.
The Infographic
If anything, the infographic highlights just how much Hollywood is in need of a change. The blue marks in the above image represent Tom Cruise's real age beginning with the film, 'Losin' it' in 1983, right up until now. The pink marks refer to the real ages of each of the female actresses who have played Cruise's romantic interests over the years.
