Emma Thompson speaks out on ageism in films

Actress Emma Thompson. Photo / Getty Images

Actress Emma Thompson has spoken out about ageism and opportunities for women in the acting industry.

Her latest role sees her playing a 77-year-old prostitute in The Legend Of Barney Thomson.

Thompson spoke to Radio Times, saying of the current status quo: "I think it's still completely s***, actually.

"I don't think there's any appreciable improvement and I think that, for women, the question of how they are supposed to look is worse than it was even when I was young.

"So, no, I am not impressed, at all."

At 56, she said the role was one she found wildly comic and irresistible.

Directed by and also starring Robert Carlyle, the role sees Thompson don prosthetics to age her substantially.

Carlyle said he wanted Thompson for the role as he needed an actress "who wasn't going to show any vanity".

Of her transformation, she said: "People often want to hear some tremendously banal thing like 'Oh my God, it is just so awful looking at myself'.

"But I can't offer up anything like that. You are creating a character. It is not you anymore, it is a character that you can then inhabit."

- PAA