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Zoe Wanamaker: ‘It’s difficult to get work now I’m older’

Zoe Wanamaker tells Radio Times why she struggles to find work and why she's worried about the next generation.

Though she has been acting for decades, Zoe Wanamaker made a huge name for herself in BBC sitcom My Family. However, she says that now it’s over it’s not particularly easy to find work – because of her age.

Speaking to Radio Times magazine in this week’s issue, she says: "It's difficult to get work as I age, but it was always thus. Even Shakespeare stopped writing about women while his men aged. The young look nicer, but older women are more interesting with more to offer and better stories to tell."

She knows it’s not just her industry that penalize women for getting older, though. "It's similar in politics: there aren't many women because they find the fighting a bit galling and give up,” she says. “It's a man's club and that must be difficult. I hope it will change because women's voices are very important and they are - sweeping generalisation - better at judging people as human beings."

Whilst she is affected by her increasing age, she’s also worried about those much younger than her. "Society has changed so much in the last 30 years. People get dumped through texts. It's tough. Relationships are to do with respect, and we need to get back to that." She adds: "I'm concerned for the next generation – 16 to 24-year-olds – it's just been announced we're 22nd out of 24 western countries in literacy."

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Posted by Hannah Wood.

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