Some people will disagree, but I’ve always found Andie MacDowell to be drop-dead gorgeous. She has a natural, earthy-yet-sophisticated beauty, like a throwback to Ingrid Bergman. However, I don’t think much of Andie’s acting ability. She’s not… talented. She was okay in Sex, Lies and Videotape and Four Weddings and a Funeral, but other than those films she’s never really impressed me. I don’t even remember her being in a major movie in the past five years. The only time I see her are in those well-lit L’Oreal ads.

But Andie MacDowell is chiming in about ageism and Hollywood, and no, it’s not yet another actress complaining about the lack of meaty roles. Andie says that “mature” actresses have it fine in Hollywood, and that the idea of a sexy older woman is becoming more prevalent everyday. Andie says that women who complain about the lack of roles are just obsessed with negativity. Thaindian News has more:

Blasting widely held beliefs that Hollywood doesn’t pay any heed to older women, Andie MacDowell has insisted that there’s no dearth of roles for women who have lost the glory of their youth.

The 50-year-old face of L’Oreal claims that mature actresses have it easier than they make out of it.

“How do I think the industry’s changed? Films have changed a lot. I think women are finally able to get older and be sexy just like men. So I’m really enjoying that part – that’s my evolution,” the Daily Express quoted her as saying at a UNICEF event in LA.

She added: “I think sometimes we seem to obsess on negativity. I think role models exist but they usually don’t get the light because people like scandal.”

However, the actress’s comments could enrage other senior actresses like Faye Dunaway.

Last year, Dunaway attacked Hollywood film producers for giving the likes of Jack Nicholson and Clint Eastwood on-screen lovers half their age, while she could only play “sisters and mothers”.

[From Thaindian News]

Meh, a little from Column A, a little from Column B. A film critic recently pointed out that in the “Golden Age” of Hollywood, many over-forty actresses were still playing meaty lead roles in romances, dramas and comedies. Which isn’t really the case any more. When an over-forty actress takes a big role now, the publicity machine ramps up and she gets tons of questions about her age, and all of the stuff that comes with it. I’ve said it before, some of the best parts for “older” actresses these days is on television. So Andie is right about one thing – the media will continue to obsess about the negative, even if more mature actresses are getting work in film… and television.

Here’s Andie MacDowell at the Film Independent’s Spirit Awards at the Santa Monica Pier on February 21st. Images thanks to WENN.com.