Jamie Denbo, ‘Orange Is The New Black’ Actress, Too Old To Play Wife Of 57-Year-Old Man

Jamie Denbo, an actress in Orange Is The New Black, is not impressed at being told that she is too old to play the wife of a 57-year-old actor. She is 43-years-old. She went to Twitter to speak out about the subject.

On Wednesday, May 3, 2017, Jamie Denbo turned to her fans on Twitter to share her disgust about the fact that she’d been turned down for an age appropriate role because of her age.

“I was just informed that at the age or 43, I am TOO OLD to play the wife of a 57 year old,” Jamie Denbo said on her Twitter account. She continued to say, “Oh, the characters also have an 18 year-old daughter. I am TOO OLD to be the mother of an 18 year-old,” was Denbo’s next tweet.

The actor that Jamie Denbo refers to, who is 57-years-old, had been cast already for the male lead role. Jamie tweeted that this actor’s wife in real life is at least 50-years-old but on screen, the actor wants to be married to a 38-year-old. According to People TV Watch, Jamie Denbo noticed that the actor’s request for his onscreen wife’s age to be 38-years-old or younger isn’t even close to his real wife’s age and she’s disgusted that he has decided that she is too old to play his TV wife.

Jamie Denbo’s followers were immediately angered and tweeted back at her, many of them asking her to reveal the name of the actor who thinks he should have a young wife next to him when he is acting. Jamie said that she can’t because he is an “American Treasure” so the only thing that people know is that the actor is 57-years-old and has a wife in real life that is about or close to 50-years-old.

This controversy of the age discrepancies between men and women in Hollywood is not something new. Helen Mirren, in particular, has spoken out often about how Hollywood does not play nice with actresses. When she spoke to Cinema Blend, Mirren uses her favorite f-word to describe how she feels about ageism in Hollywood, calling it, “f***ing outrageous.” Mirren went on to call it annoying and ridiculous. Is it purely coincidental that Jamie Denbo also was generous with the f-bombs in her recent tweets when she spoke about being turned down for this role because of her age?

It was almost a year ago that Maggie Gyllenhaal had a similar experience to Jamie Denbo’s. She was turned down for a role where she would have been the wife a 55-year-old actor. At the time, she was 37-years-old. That’s an 18-year difference. And neither Maggie Gyllenhaal nor Jamie Denbo look particularly old for their age. In fact, both Maggie and Jamie are looking pretty good.

Other actresses that have spoke out about the subject of ageism in Hollywood include Kate Mara, Amy Adams, and Jessica Lange. Lange, in particular, has spoken about how as women get older in Hollywood, there just are not as many roles that are applicable to them. Then Hollywood gives a lot of the age appropriate roles that do exist to younger and younger women.

What do you think of this subject of sexism and ageism that Jamie Denbo has stirred up on Twitter? Is ageism in Hollywood something real? And even if it is real, does it matter? Who is it hurting if movies and television shows like to show attractive younger women? Should Hollywood be held accountable for how women are portrayed in the media? Is it any different than showing airbrushed models in magazines that make them appear perfect when they really aren’t?

These are questions that should be considered and should be discussed. Share your thoughts on the topic of ageism in Hollywood, and more specifically, Jamie Denbo as one of the latest actresses to be turned down for an age appropriate role.

[Featured Image by Rob Kim/Getty Images]