But something shifted. Perhaps it was the rise of streaming, demanding complex content for adult audiences. Perhaps it was the long-overdue reckoning of #MeToo, which allowed older female producers and showrunners to finally greenlight their own stories. Or perhaps it was simply that an entire generation of extraordinary actresses refused to fade quietly into character-actress purgatory.

On television, the revolution has been even louder. Jean Smart (71) became a cultural force as the acid-tongued, wildly alive stand-up in Hacks —a role that directly confronts the industry's ageism while celebrating the cunning and drive of a woman who refuses to be shelved. Meanwhile, Better Call Saul gave Rhea Seehorn (50+) the kind of coiled, intelligent, morally complex role that used to belong exclusively to antihero men.

Across the Atlantic, the last decade has been a renaissance. In 2020, Nomadland gave Frances McDormand (63) a Best Actress Oscar for playing a quiet, rootless nomad—a role with no male lead, no romantic subplot, and no redemption arc except self-possession. The same year, The Father gave Olivia Colman (47 at the time) and the great Yuh-Jung Youn (73) a stage for heartbreaking, nuanced work that centered on the exhaustion and grace of caregiving.