When it comes to age, Hollywood is known for making some bizarre casting decisions. We’ve seen 30 year-old actors playing teenagers, as well as romantic pairs with a wide age gap. A similar casting choice was applied to the upcoming miniseries The Crowded Room featuring Tom Holland, 27, and Emmy Rossum, 36, where the latter plays Holland’s mother with only a 10-year age gap in real life. Weird, isn’t it?
Well, this very casting choice opened a can of online worms as social media users have vehemently criticized the portrayal of an actress in her 30s as Holland’s mother, calling it another instance of Hollywood ageism. The issue has been raised in relation to numerous middle-aged Hollywood actors who are still paired with younger female actors as their potential romantic interest.
I’m sorry isn’t Emmy Rossum like …. my age? Stop casting young women as the mothers of men who are like less than 10 years their junior when we’re still casting men who are 55 as leads who romance 25 year old women. https://t.co/XYZS05UMX4
— Kraken the Book Witch 📚🧙🏻♀️ (@VictoriaNoir89) February 22, 2022
Twitteratis posted various comments where they blurted out their reactions to the issue. Here are some of the verdicts.
Tom was born in June of 1996 and Emmy was born in September of 1986. So they are just under 10 years apart. I realize they can probably age her with makeup. But just gross.
— amsleympie (@amsleympie) February 23, 2022
The 10-year-gap is too shocking for some.
Hollywood really hates casting women in their 40s and 50s for roles of women in their 40s and 50s
— Stephanie (@steph_r_bos) February 22, 2022
Hollywood lacks in Appropriate casting decisions.
Just cast older women
— Bryan Cheong (@bryancsk) February 23, 2022
Woman turns 35 in Hollywood and this is how she gets treated lol
— Robyn Hood 🕸 (@love_andhiphop) February 24, 2022
The misogynist ageism is underlined.
This is a running problem in Hollywood tbh. I recall even Rocketman had Elton John’s mom played by an actress who wasn’t that much older than Taron himself.
— Joseph Randolph (@BlazenSpirit) February 23, 2022
Pregnant at 10? Brutal.
— father raul pudd (@mikeisthereason) February 22, 2022
Rossum doesn’t appear to think along similar lines, and as per her statement, the series’ portrayal of the mother-daughter relationship drew her to opt for the role. She also told Entertainment Tonight that her character, Candy’s teenage pregnancy somehow dilutes the glaring minimal age difference. In her own words, she said,
“It makes sense when I read the script, Candy’s a super young mom, she’s almost a child in her own right when she becomes pregnant at age 16. You watch as I age from 25 to 35, which is actually younger than I am now.”
Despite the criticisms surrounding the age, fans are excited for the upcoming miniseries where Holland plays Danny Sullivan, who is arrested on charges of New York City shootings in 1979, before the remaining episodes show in detail the twists and turns in his life.