Naomi Watts Debuts Menopause Greeting Card Collection with Em & Friends© GettyImages

Naomi Watts was told her acting career would end after turning 40: ‘That made me so mad’

The actress has continued to build an incredible career over the years, and she is fighting to change Hollywood’s perspective.


Daniel Neira - Los Angeles
Senior WriterLos Angeles
OCTOBER 5, 2022 12:48 PM EDT

Naomi Watts is opening up about some negative comments she received since starting her career in Hollywood. The successful actress revealed that she was told that her career would be over when she turned 40.

The star says she was told: “You better get a lot done because it’s all over at 40 when you become unf—able,” to which she responded, “What? What does that mean exactly?”

Watts, who found major success after her performance in the 2001 film ‘Mulholland Drive’ when she was 33, admitted that there is a big double standard when it comes to casting male actors.

“Then you think about it, and you go, ‘Oh, right. When you are no longer reproductive, when those organs are no longer functioning, you are not sexy, so, therefore, you are not hireable.’ That just made me so mad,” she confessed.

© GettyImages

The actress has continued to build an incredible career over the years, and she is fighting to change Hollywood’s perspective. “It’s such an awkward conversation because, from day one, we begin our aging process. It’s something we just all have to get comfortable with and women are asked to do it more than men.”

“We don’t talk about a man aging hardly ever,” she concluded. “We don’t talk about his gray hair. In fact, if we do, it’s like, ‘Oh, he gets more handsome, more desirable, more powerful.’ And why is he powerful? Because he’s accumulated experiences. Well, it should be the same for women.”