2019-05-01+The+Australian+Womens+Weekly

MAY 2019| The Australian Women’s Weekly 93

Celebrity interview

myageareoutin theworldandliketo

seethemselvesreflectedin thestories

theysee,becausewedon’tjustcurlup

anddieaftertheageof 30or40.

“I yearnforit as anaudiencemember.

I don’twantto seeeverywomanmy

agejustas thesupportivewifeorthe

embitteredsingleton.I don’twantthese

clichésoverandoveragain.I wantto

seepeoplemakingdiscoveries,growing,

learningandI feel,if I haveanappetite

forit, whywouldn’totherwomen?We

deserveto berepresented.”

Elizabethis right,of course,andthe

tideis slowlyturning,withbeauty

companies,advertisingagenciesand

televisionnetworksallfinallycatching

on and embracing women of substance,

womenagedbetween 40 and100,who

arefranklytiredof beingignored.

In thecaseofTheChaperone,

Elizabeth’sargumentis alsoverymuch

partof thefilm’snarrative.Ontheface

of it, hercharacterNormashouldbea

cipher,a dowdyladyin thebackground

of thesoon-to-be-famousand

precociouslyvivaciousLouiseBrooks.

Althoughthepieceis fictional,its

screenplaydrawnfromthebest-selling

USnovelof thesamenamebyLaura

Moriarty,it focusesontherealLouise

Brooks,therebellious1920sdancer,film

starandflappericon,withherrazor-

sharpbobandJazz-Ageglamour.

Andyes,Louise– playedbyHaley

Lu Richardson – is a big part➝^

I

t’sElizabethMcGovern’sfirsttime

in Australia.TheAmerican-born

London-basedactressis fighting

jetlag,butitchingto explore,while

alsofranticto doeverythingshecan

to alerttheworldto herlatestmovie,

TheChaperone.At57,Elizabethis the

starof theshow,whichshouldn’tbea

thing,butin anindustrythatextols

freshyoungfacesandregularlyshelves

womenover 40 to characterroles,she’s

rightto feelempowered.

“I dofeelthereis a dearthof women

myagerepresentedin anyfield,in TV,

moviesandmusic,”Elizabethsaysas

shesettlesdownto haveherhairand

make-updonein preparationforThe

Weekly’s exclusive photo shoot. “People

ElizabethMcGovernis inherprime.She’sDownton’s ladyofthemanor,

anaccidentalrocksinger,motheroftwoandnowthestarofa movieshe

made happen. But it hasn’t all been plain sailing, she tellsJuliet Rieden.

Elizabeth

MCGOVERN

curl up and

die after 40”

don’t just

“Women

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