Russell Crowe has weighed in on the Hollywood ageism debate, saying that older actresses shouldn't complain about not being able to get good roles.
The actor said that actresses who complain about the lack of substantial roles still want to "play the ingénue" and instead should be "willing to live in their own skin".
Crow told Australian Women's Weekly: "To be honest, I think you'll find that the woman who is saying that [the roles have dried up] is the woman who at 40, 45, 48, still wants to play the ingénue, and can't understand why she's not being cast as the 21-year-old.
"Meryl Streep will give you 10,000 examples and arguments as to why that's bulls***, so will Helen Mirren, or whoever it happens to be.
"If you are willing to live in your own skin, you can work as an actor. If you are trying to pretend that you're still the young buck when you're my age, it just doesn't work."
He added: "The best thing about the industry I'm in - movies - is that there are roles for people in all different stages of life."
Crowe can next be seen in his directorial debut The Water Diviner.
