Older women are "overdue for centre stage" on-screen, Emma Thompson said as research suggested more of the UK's top films in recent years featured a lead actor named Chris than a female protagonist over 60.
Analysis for the age without limits campaign also found films were four times more likely to have a talking animal in the leading role than a woman older than 60.
Thompson, an Oscar-winning actress who is now aged 67, said older women are "compelling, relatable" and interesting, and should be at the heart of more films.
She said: "Women are half the population and we get older. So, where are the stories about us?
"The older we get, the more interesting we are.
"I want to see more films centre ageing women, we are compelling, relatable and overdue for centre stage.
"Older women don’t need permission to exist on screen. They already exist in the world, cinema just needs to catch up."
The research found that among the 100 highest-grossing films for 2023, 2024 and 2025, six featured a "Chris" in the leading role, including Pratt and Hemsworth.
In contrast, only five starred women over 60 as the lead character – including Demi Moore, Diane Keaton and Jamie Lee Curtis, campaigners said.
Carole Easton, chief executive at the Centre for Ageing Better, said: "It is absolutely ludicrous to think so few films have been made in recent years that have an older woman at the front and centre."
She called on people to "push back against ageism, and its intersection with sexism, by telling the cultural gatekeepers that we want all aspects and stages of life represented in the things we watch, listen to and read".
Source: Press Association
