text: It’s a tale as old as Hollywood: actresses being told they are “too old” to play the love interest of men their age or older—an ageist trend that has resulted in some truly insane onscreen pairings. (Remember that time a 30-year-old Catherine Zeta-Jones rode off into the sunset with a 69-year-old Sean Connery at the end of Entrapment?) Well, late last week, one actress, having reached her breaking point with the rampant ageism, shared her story of casting discrimination on Twitter. 
   
   The actress: Orange Is the Black’s Jamie Denbo, who plays Ginsberg on the Netflix series. 
   
   “I was just informed that at the age of 43, I am TOO OLD to play the wife of a 57 year old,” Denbo Tweeted last Wednesday. 
   
   While Denbo did not identify the project or the character for which she auditioned, the actress did reveal that fictional husband and wife supposedly have an 18-year-old daughter. 
   
   “The real wife of the 57 year-old actor is EASILY AT LEAST 50,” Denbo continued. “But this fucker wants to be tv married to a 38 year-old -TOPS. . .I am TOO OLD to be the mother of an 18 year-old.” 
   
   Denbo clarified that the character was not some young, second wife either. 
   
   “This is a FIRST marriage, btw,” she added. “Not a re-wife. Which would make a little more sense.” 
   
   “Old white men, enjoy your last run,” Denbo concluded. “We are all fucking done with you lizards.” 
   
   When Upworthy published the rant with a photo of the actress, Denbo pointed out another sad fact. 
   
   “To be fair—that photo is about 5 years old,” Denbo Tweeted. “If I went in looking like that, perhaps I would have been cast. #killme” 
   
   This was not the first—or 101st—instance of what Helen Mirren has described as a “fucking outrageous” and “ridiculous” epidemic. In 2015, actress Maggie Gyllenhaal said, at 37, she was told she was too old to play the love interest of a 55-year-old man. As Mirren herself pointed out, “We all watched James Bond as he got more and more geriatric, and his girlfriends got younger and younger. It’s so annoying.” 
   
   In 2015, it was reported that Meryl Streep is doing what she can to help stop ageism, as well as sexism, by funding a screenwriting lab for women over 40 in the hopes that they will generate more projects for mature women. 
   
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   It’s an unfortunate but well-known truth that many Hollywood actresses face ageism and sexism. While we know and love many amazing actresses in their 40s, 50s, 60s, and beyond, some of these fabulous ladies struggle to get parts as they get older. Well, actress Jamie Denbo wrote an epic Twitter rant about sexist casting to help bring this conversation even more into the spotlight. 
   
   Jamie stars as Shelly Ginsberg in Orange is the New Black, and she has also appeared in Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, Veep, and Spy, so her resume is pretty impressive. But Jamie just hit a major speed bump because of her age, and she chose to speak out rather than stay silent. 
   
   Jamie Denbo was told that at 43, she was too old to play the wife of a 57-year-old actor. 
   
   Gary Gershoff / Getty 
   
   That’s right, can you believe that beautiful lady was told that she’s “too old” to play someone’s wife? Because she’s absolutely stunning. But luckily, Jamie knows her value. And she unleashed an amazing Twitter takedown of the ageist and sexist decision. 
   
   I was just informed that at the age of 43, I am TOO OLD to play the wife of a 57 year old. — Jamie Denbo (@jamiedenbo) May 4, 2017 
   
   Oh, the characters also have an 18 year-old daughter. I am TOO OLD to be the mother of an 18 year-old. — Jamie Denbo (@jamiedenbo) May 4, 2017 
   
   This is a FIRST marriage, btw. Not a re-wife. Which would make a little more sense. — Jamie Denbo (@jamiedenbo) May 4, 2017 
   
   Wow, take that patriarchy! Jamie makes sure to mention a couple of points that make the absurdity of the situation stronger. She notes that it’s the character’s first marriage and the couple has an 18-year-old child together. That means Jamie’s character would have had the child at 25, which is pretty normal. According to NPR, the average age to have your first child in the U.S. is 26.3. And yet, she’s too “old” to play his wife. She also notes that the actor in question is married and his real life wife is probably 50. Jamie won’t name names, but her point is pretty clear. 
   
   We applaud Jamie for speaking out about this issue because it sets such a bad example when Hollywood only pairs older men with younger women. For too long, film and television have told us that only young women are beautiful. But of course, we know that beauty and fabulousness comes in all ages. We hope actresses like Jamie continue speaking out and drawing attention to this issue. Because we need to see more roles that reflect real women in all their awesomeness. ||||| Jamie Denbo is not about to let Hollywood get away with ageism or sexism. 
   
   The Orange Is the New Black actress—who plays Ginsburg on the Netflix original series—took to Twitter to reveal another project had denied her a role due to her age. 
   
   "I was just informed that at the age of 43, I am TOO OLD to play the wife of a 57 year old," she tweeted. "Oh, the characters also have an 18 year-old daughter. I am TOO OLD to be the mother of an 18 year-old."
target: – Jamie Denbo, who plays Ginsberg on Orange Is the New Black, is 43. Which is, in Hollywood terms, apparently not young enough to be the wife of a 57-year-old and the mother of an 18-year-old. In a series of tweets last week just now getting mainstream attention, Denbo says she was told she was "too old" to play such a role in a project, which she did not name. "The real wife of the 57 year-old actor is EASILY AT LEAST 50. But this f---er wants to be tv married to a 38 year-old -TOPS," she wrote, adding that the characters involved are in a first marriage, so no, this isn't a situation where the female character is a "re-wife." Per E! News, she refused to name the actor, but did say he's considered an "American treasure." (This situation is not a first.)