The data was damning. A 2019 study by the Annenberg Inclusion Initiative at USC revealed that in the top 100 grossing films of the previous decade, only 11% of protagonists were women over 45. Even more shocking? The number of female leads over 45 actually decreased from 2018 to 2019. Meryl Streep famously joked that after 40, acting roles for women were either "witches or bitches."
: Statistics from organizations like the Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film highlight that major female characters drop from roughly 42% in their 30s to just 15% in their 40s on broadcast television. The data was damning