Maggie Gyllenhaal 'too old' to play 55-year-old man's lover

Maggie Gyllenhaal has spoken out about sexism in Hollywood. Photo/Getty

Is 37 too old for an actress to play the lover of a 55-year-old man?

It seems some Hollywood bosses think so, as Maggie Gyllenhaal was recently told she was too far over the hill to play the love interest of a man 18 years her senior.

"There are things that are really disappointing about being an actress in Hollywood that surprise me all the time," the Crazy Heart star told TheWrap Magazine.

"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 feel angry, and then it made me laugh."

The story is trending on social media, renewing claims of entrenched Hollywood sexism.

Maggie Gyllenhaal, 37, deemed "too old" to play the love interest of a 55-year-old man. Oh Hollywood. http://t.co/z9ez0fod3W

— Tara Moss (@Tara_Moss) May 21, 2015

Seriously? Maggie Gyllenhaal, 37, was told she was "too old to play the lover of a man who was 55." http://t.co/cxoF21xmVv

— E! Entertainment (@eentertainment) May 21, 2015

Earlier this month, the American Civil Liberties Union urged the US government to tackle the "widespread exclusion of women directors" in the film and television industries.

The union said women last year accounted for only seven per cent of directors on the top 250 grossing films, down two percentage points from 1998.

- AAP