Susan Sarandon was told she wouldn't work past 40.
Susan Sarandon
The 71-year-old Hollywood legend's filmography contains iconic performances in movies such as 'Thelma and Louise', 'The Rocky Horror Picture Show' and 'Enchanted', but when she started out she was told not to have children if she wanted a successful career and to make the most of her castings before she hit the landmark age.
Sarandon - whose movies in recent years include parts in 'A Bad Moms Christmas', 'The Calling' and 'Arbitrage' - said: "I remember another really famous actress saying to me, 'Well, don't have children because that'll really change the parts that you'll be available for. And you won't work past 40 anyway.' And a lot of that has changed. And a lot of women are assessing how they feel; were they victimised or did they feel it was their own choice?"
Sarandon went on to have three children - Eva Amurri, 32, with ex-partner Franco Amurri, and two sons Jack and Miles Robbins with former husband Tim Robbins.
The Hollywood legend has been nominated for four Oscars and won the Best Actress Academy Award back in 1996 for her performance in 'Dead Man Walking' and is still working now and can currently be seen alongside Jessica Lange in new HBO series 'Feud'.
Sarandon insists the interesting roles for older women and actresses will only increase because of the amount females now directing and producing small screen and cinema projects.
She said: "More and more women are able to greenlight their own projects. My last few films have had women directors - they're not the big blockbusters, but I'm not sure those big blockbusters are very interesting to direct. But there is definitely more power in the hands of women than there was - the Reese Witherspoons, who are getting books, putting together projects, telling women's stories. I think that's where the difference is."
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