Lara Flynn Boyle Reveals Why She Isn't Mad at Hollywood for Its Ageist Views

Lara Flynn Boyle is back on the big screen in Mother, Couch coming this July 5, and she’s excited to share her latest work. While fans have missed her constant presence in Hollywood, the 54-year-old actress isn’t blaming the entertainment industry for a lack of opportunities. She has a rather unique view of ageism in general. 

A recent People interview raised the topic of how things have changed for the better in Hollywood since Boyle was a teen actress in the late 1980s. “Not at all,” she said with a laugh, indicating that nothing was different. That’s when she tackled the hot topic of ageism and her unconventional thoughts. “The thing that gets my goat is when actresses talk about ageism in Hollywood,” Boyle divulged. “Ageism is human nature. It’s not Hollywood’s fault. It’s all of our fault. Myself included. I like looking at pretty people on the camera.” 

She’s even tough on herself, often refusing to watch her work on camera. “Whenever I catch a reflection of myself in a lens, I’m like, ‘Oh, cut,'” she joked. However, her talent speaks for itself with iconic turns in Wayne’s World, Twin Peaks, and her Emmy-nominated role on The Practice. After stepping back from the spotlight after marrying Texas real estate developer Donald Ray Thomas in 2006, Boyle seems ready to film more projects in the future. “I love Hollywood. I love everything about Hollywood,” she proudly stated. 

Boyle’s attitude toward ageism might be unorthodox because other actresses, including Jessica Lange, are calling on Hollywood to cut it out. “Maybe it was more extreme back then in the ’40s and ’50s and ’60s,” the 75-year-old Oscar winner told People in June. “but it certainly hasn’t changed that much.” So, she and Boyle agree that there are limited changes in attitude, but Lange believes more can be done to write stories about women over the age of 50. 

However, it’s Jamie Lee Curtis who has continually sounded the rallying cry as she told SheKnows in 2022. “It’s a business. I get it. Things are changing. There are a lot of beautiful women,” she explained at the Women in Entertainment Gala. “Women are changing what women can look like, act like, physically what they can do —  and it just takes time.”

Before you go, click here to see all the celebrity women who have spoken out about ageism.