‘Orange Is the New Black’ Star, 43, Told She’s Too Old to Play 57-Year-Old’s Wife

Actress Jamie Denbo calls out sexism in Hollywood

Jamie Denbo
Jamie Denbo (Getty Images)

“Orange Is the New Black” actress Jamie Denbo has taken to Twitter to call out sexism in Hollywood.

“I was just informed that at the age of 43, I am TOO OLD to play the wife of a 57 year old,” Denbo, who plays a Jewish inmate at Litchfield Penitentiary named Ginsberg on the Netflix series, wrote in a series of tweets. “The real wife of the 57 year-old actor is EASILY AT LEAST 50. But this fucker wants to be tv married to a 38 year-old -TOPS.”

Though she declined to reveal the identity of the male actor or to specify which project she was talking about, she did note that the two characters have an 18-year-old daughter in the script.

“Old white men, enjoy your last run. We are all fucking done with you lizards,” Denbo wrote last week.

Denbo’s story is similar to one shared by Maggie Gyllenhaal in an interview with TheWrap in 2015. Gyllenhaal described having been, at the age of 37, deemed too old to play the love interest of a 55-year-old man.

“There are things that are really disappointing about being an actress in Hollywood that surprise me all the time,” she said. “I’m 37 and I was told recently I was too old to play the lover of a man who was 55. It was astonishing to me. It made me feel bad, and then it made me feel angry, and then it made me laugh.”

Denbo’s initial tweets were largely met with support, but others haven’t been so kind. Denbo shot back at her critics on Monday with yet another tweet.

“Happy to report it took over 48 hours for the trolls to start harassing this ‘spoiled, ugly, libtard actress,’” she wrote. “Step up your game boys!”

Read all of her tweets below:

Reid Nakamura

TV reporter • reid.nakamura@thewrap.com • Twitter: @reidnakamura

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