featuring a girl or woman in a lead or co-lead role, a massive jump from just 30 in 2023. The Power of Mature Narratives : Projects like the upcoming The Devil Wears Prada 2
. However, recent years have seen a transformative shift, with 2021 and 2022 marked as "wave" years for older women sweeping major award categories and reclaiming narrative power. Current Representation and Trends
We are currently obsessed with anti-heroines. In The White Lotus (Season 2), Jennifer Coolidge (61) played a grieving, messy, wealthy heiress who was neither dignified nor maternal. She was chaotic and vulnerable, and she won an Emmy. In Killers of the Flower Moon , Lily Gladstone (37, but playing a mature presence) and the supporting turns by Tantoo Cardinal (73) redefined indigenous femininity on screen—stoic, powerful, and heartbroken.