Diane Farr.Photo:Paul Archuleta/Getty
Paul Archuleta/Getty
Fire Countrystar Diane Farr is speaking out about an overlooked issue in Hollywood.
The actress, 54, wrote an op-ed published inEntertainment Weeklyon Thursday about the importance of casting middle age women — and casting them in roles their own age and opposite male costars of the same age.
The performer, who portrays Sharon Leone on the hit CBS series, notes that much of the popularity of the show has been attributed to her chemistry with Billy Burke, who plays her husband Vince Leone on the show. She reasons that Burke, 57, is also a rare costar she’s worked with who has been close in age to her.
Billy Burke and Diane Farr on ‘Fire Country’.Sergei Bachlakov/CBS via Getty
Sergei Bachlakov/CBS via Getty
In the piece, Farr also recounts an experience in which she was struggling to find work after she leftNumb3rsto stay home with her children. At the time, she had become pregnant with twins shortly after the birth of her firstborn at 41.
Diane Farr and Billy Burke on ‘Fire Country’.Sergei Bachlakov/CBS via Getty
While Wayne Callies, 46, expresses that it feels like a “lie” when women portray parts outside of their age and have much older costars, Gay Harden, 64, opens up about how older actresses can be “dismissed as sexually unviable” at a certain age.
Diane Farr on ‘Fire Country’.Sergei Bachlakov/CBS via Getty
TheFire Countrystar asks, “Is it possible to be authentic with your costar if you come from different generations, classes, educational backgrounds, and methods of working? Yes. Is it better if people represent the gender, nationality, race, and actual sexual orientation they live? So far, as an industry, we believe it is.”
She continues, “So it should also apply to women playing the age a character is written because they have voices worth hearing, and representation matters.”
As the actress notes in herEntertainment Weeklyarticle,Michelle Yeohprompted a conversationabout the importance of significant roles going to older actresses last year when she received praise for starring inEverything Everywhere All At Once, and went on towin the Academy Award for best actress.
Yeoh, 61, said in her acceptance speech, “For all the little boys and girls who look like me watching tonight, this is a beacon of hope and possibilities. This is proof that, dream big, and dreams do come true. And ladies don’t let anybody tell you you are ever past your prime.”
Fire Countrypremiered on CBS in October 2022 and was renewed for a second season in January 2023. The show became the most popular series on air during its debut season, earning 8 million viewers per episode, perDeadline.
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Fire Countryreturns for season 2 on Friday at 9 p.m. ET on CBS and streams on Paramount+.
source: people.com
