Movies more likely to star talking animals or men named Chris than women over 60, study finds

A new study has found that talking animals and men named Chris are more likely to star on the big screen than women over 60.

The study was conducted by the Centre for Aging Better through research from the Age Without Limits campaign. It revealed that the 100 highest-grossing films in the U.K. from the years 2023 through 2025 are four times more likely to have a talking animal as the lead character than an actress older than 60.

Additionally, six of the 100 movies starred an actor named Chris, while only five starred a woman older than 60.

In response to the study, actress Emma Thompson said, “Women are half the population and we get older. So where are the stories about us? The older we get, the more interesting we are. I want to see more films centre ageing women, we are compelling, relatable, and overdue for centre stage. Older women don’t need permission to exist on screen. They already exist in the world, cinema just needs to catch up.”

The five actresses older than 60 to lead a film in the past three years are Jennifer Saunders in Allelujah, Nia Vardalos in My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3, Diane Keaton in Book Club: The Next Chapter, Demi Moore in The Substance and Jamie Lee Curtis in Freakier Friday.

Meanwhile, the Chrises who make up the films led by men named Chris are Chris Pratt in The Super Mario Bros Movie, Pratt in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, Pratt in The Garfield Movie, Chris Pine in Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, Chris Hemsworth in Transformers One and Christian Friedel in The Zone of Interest.

Going further, The Garfield Movie is both a movie starring a guy named Chris and a movie starring a talking animal.

Survey questions, methodology and results have not been verified or endorsed by ABC News or The Walt Disney Company.