Geena Davis says she stopped getting roles after turning 40: 'It was like I drove off a cliff'

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Geena Davis has opened up about her experience with ageism in Hollywood.

In an interview with The Times ahead of her new book release, "Dying of Politeness," the 66-year-old actress shared that she stopped being offered roles after turning 40.

"It was like I drove off a cliff," the "Thelma & Louise" star said.

She continued, "I’d heard about this very early on, this concept that after 40 the roles dry up. It didn’t worry me at all because I thought it wouldn’t happen to me."

Geena Davis has opened up about her experience with ageism in Hollywood. (Karwai Tang/Getty Images)

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The "A League of Their Own" star explained that she believed that her career wouldn't be impacted by her age since she had watched older actresses continue to receive award-winning parts.

"Every year at the Oscars, Glenn Close and Jessica Lange and Sally Field were getting all these awards. I thought, ‘Well, it’s not going to happen to them. Their careers are flourishing,’" Davis said.

"And, ‘It won’t happen to them; therefore, it won’t happen to anybody else after that,’" she added. "Once I started getting some of these incredible roles I thought, ‘Well, certainly it is not going to happen to me.’ So when it did…"

The Academy Award-winner admitted that she was angry when her roles began to dry up since she wanted to continue working. She also called out people who invented reasons to explain why her career had stalled.

"I remember getting to a point where I thought, ‘This is forced retirement. I don’t want to do less," she said. "People would make up reasons why I was in fewer movies. Like after I had kids." 

The actress said that she stopped getting roles after she turned 40. (Photo by Trae Patton/NBC via Getty Images)

Davis became a first-time mother at the age of 46. She and her former husband Reza Jarrahy welcomed daughter Alizeh in 2002. In 2004, she gave birth to fraternal twin sons, Kaiis and Kian.

She explained, "After I had kids they said, ‘She took some time off to be with her kids.’ But I didn’t."

The Massachusetts native said that she never set the record straight as she didn't want publicly acknowledge that she just wasn't being offered roles.

"I think somehow I got the feeling that — I don’t remember if anybody told me this or not — but I shouldn’t say publicly, ‘I’m not getting [work],’" she said.

"‘Don’t talk about it.’ Because then people will say, ‘Oh, she’s not getting any jobs. OK, well, we won’t hire her.’ So I scrupulously didn’t ever complain about it. And people have stuck to it ever since — that I took time off to have kids. That’s still the line."

Davis became a first-time mother at the age of 46. She and her former husband Reza Jarrahy welcomed daughter Alizeh in 2002. (Reuters)

After making her acting debut in the 1982 romantic comedy, Davis' film career took off, and she went on to star in major studio releases including "The Fly," "Beetlejuice," "The Accidental Tourist," "Thelma & Louise" and "Cutthroat Island."

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Davis turned 40 in 1996, the year that she starred in the action thriller film "The Long Kiss Goodnight" opposite Samuel L. Jackson.

After 1996, she appeared in the 1999 movie "Stuart Little," its 2002 sequel "Stuart Little 2" and the 2005 direct-to-video sequel "Stuart Little 3: Call of the Wild."

"Film roles really did start to dry up when I got into my 40s," Davis told Vulture in a 2016 interview. "If you look at IMDb, up until that age, I made roughly one film a year. In my entire 40s, I made one movie, 'Stuart Little'. I was getting offers, but for nothing meaty or interesting like in my 30s."

Though her movie career waned over the years, Davis has appeared in guest roles on television shows including "Will & Grace," "Grey's Anatomy" and "Glow."

In 2005, she headlined the ABC TV series "Commander In Chief." Though the show was canceled after its first season, Davis won a Golden Globe Award for her leading role as first female U.S. president. 

Davis will next be seen Zoe Kravitz's directorial debut "Pussy Island."

In her memoir, Davis recalled a conversation with George Clooney in which he explained why he hated her "Thelma & Louise" co-star Brad Pitt. ( Fotos International/Getty Images)

In her memoir, which was released on Oct. 11, she reflected on her life and career, including the "bad experience that she had with co-star Bill Murray while on the set of their 1990 movie "Quick Change."

In one of the book's more light-hearted anecdotes, shared by The Times, Davis recalled sitting next to George Clooney on a flight. In an excerpt from her memoir, she detailed their conversation on the plane, in which Clooney explained why he hated Davis' "Thelma & Louise" co-star Brad Pitt.

Davis wrote, "We chatted for a while until suddenly he said, ‘You know what, I hate that Brad Pitt.’ I laughed and said, ‘No, you don’t. Isn’t he, like, your best friend?’"

"No, no, I hate him," George said. "He got the part in Thelma & Louise."

"Oh, I see. Did you want that part?"

"Well, yes – couldn’t you tell when I auditioned with you?"

"Ah, no, I could not tell. I didn’t think, "Hey, look, it’s George Clooney," when George walked into the room. ER was still a couple of years away. I could have laughed and said, "Oh my God, were you one of the guys with brown hair? I don’t remember you at all." But I didn’t, even though I’m sure he would have cracked up at that."

"Nope, too polite still."

"Instead I said, "Oh yes, I could tell. You were so great.""

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