As Keith recounts, he couldn’t help but won- der aloud how his friend continued to have such passion and energy. Eastwood’s reply? “I don’t let the old man in.” That statement became the titular refrain in the song Keith penned for the closing credits of the fi lm. And while East- wood’s implication was that he keeps himself young at heart, mind
and body, there’s an irony in the lyric. The famed actor, producer and director belongs to an elite group of older actors who are thriving in an industry that historically has kept older men and women largely out of textured on-screen roles. Not to mention the defi ni- tion of “older” has always skewed younger, read post-50, in Hollywood than in most other industries. But the entertainment industry itself is in the midst of a paradigm shift like few other times in its past—the rise of streaming platforms like Netfl ix, Hulu, and Amazon are bringing audiences to new outlets for content of all stripes—and that shift is bringing new opportunities on screens big and small. Among recent headlines, Glenn Close and Michael Douglas were among the big winners at this year’s Gold- en Globe Awards, both for depicting deeply textured characters. “Grace and Frankie,” the Netflix comedy starring Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin, is headed into its sixth season. Al Pacino, at 78, was just cast in his fi rst starring role in a television series, Amazon’s Nazi hunter drama “The Hunt.” “The Cool Kids,” about a motley crew of friends living in a retirement community, is drawing strong ratings among a variety of audiences. These examples and others point to changing times,
said Dr. Scott Kaiser, a family physician and geriatrician who serves as chief innovation offi cer at the Motion Pic- ture Television Fund, an organization that provides sup- port, services and assistance to the members of the Hol- lywood community with limited resources and operates a 48-acre residential campus community. “If you look at the movie ‘Sunset Boulevard,’ it’s about the aging star and how she’s no longer relevant. When
Gloria Swanson played Norma Desmond, she was 50. Jennifer Lopez is [almost] 50,” Kaiser said. “She’s actually doing a movie now, called ‘Second Act.’ That, in and of itself, tells the whole story.” Kaiser believes strongly in the concept of second, third and fourth acts, and has seen them borne out in the com- munity he works with. On both sides of the camera and behind the scenes, “There really is no expiration date on creativity. We have people in their hundreds who are involved in incredible creative projects,” he notes. “Whereas just a short time ago being 50 meant game
over, irrelevant, now 50 is just the beginning. Either peo- ple are hitting their stride or fi nding their wings in second acts,” Kaiser added. “I think that’s being refl ected in the industry, in the stories being told, and refl ected in the opportunities available.”
Whether or not by design, he says Hollywood’s evolu-
tion refl ects a staggering statistic. Around 2030, there will be more people over the age of 65 than under 18—a fi rst in human history. Further, he says age inclusion has been elevated in recent conversations about diversity in entertainment that also seek to eliminate bias around gender and other factors. “With all discussion of need for diversity and in- clusion in the industry, it’s very nice to see generational diversity, age inclusion, also being involved in that con- versation,” Kaiser pointed out.
Todd Milliner, producer, actor and co-founder with Will & Grace’s Sean Hayes of Hazy Mills Productions, con- curred. He knows a few things about creating eyeball-grabbing con- tent about aging—his studio was home to “Hot In Cleveland,” the series that ran on the TV Land network from 2010-2015 about a three 40-something
friends who relocate from Los Angeles to Cleveland, where they’re still considered “hot.” The series co-starred as their feisty, widowed caretaker and landlord Elka Os- trovsky the poster child of aging actors, Betty White, who recently celebrated her 97th birthday.
JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2019
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