Then came Grace and Frankie (2015–2022). The Netflix juggernaut, starring Jane Fonda (then 77) and Lily Tomlin (75), ran for seven seasons and became a top-ten global phenomenon. The message was clear:

In a 2015 New York Times interview, a 42-year-old actress—already an Oscar winner—remarked that she’d been advised to lie about her age just to keep getting hired. "I can’t play the ingenue anymore," she said. "But nobody writes the other parts."

And she is the most exciting thing in the multiplex.

As Jamie Lee Curtis said in her 2023 Oscar speech, looking out at the crowd: "My mother and father were nominated for Oscars in different categories. I just won an Oscar. This is a testament to the fact that it is never too late to have a dream."

We are living in the era of the . The Numbers Don’t Lie (Anymore) For years, the data was brutal. A San Diego State University study found that in 2010, only 8% of films featured a female lead over 45. Actresses over 40 were cinematic ghosts. The excuse was always economic: "Audiences don't want to see older women."