According to a 2020 report by the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media, women over 40 are severely underrepresented in leading roles in film. The study found that only 2.5% of leading roles in the top 100 films of 2019 were played by women over 50, while women under 30 accounted for 52% of leading roles. However, there are signs of improvement. In 2020, films like "The Irishman" and "Booksmart" featured complex, lead roles for women in their 60s and 50s, respectively.