I just watched Brothers & ...
Sally Field, Brothers & Sisters
Question: I just watched
Brothers & Sisters for the first time and it seemed very familiar to me. Then I realized that part of what I was responding to was that both Sally Field and Patricia Wettig, while still beautiful, looked like "real" women I could actually know in real life. I was struck by the emotion they were able to convey because they don't seem to have had any work done, which can freeze the face. Is this the beginning of a trend or just a quirk? Have others noticed it? Have executives discussed it and held focus groups about it? British television often lets people age gracefully, but we don't seem to trust that the American public will look at an older face.
Answer: I'd love this to be a trend, but it's probably more of an anomaly, given TV's general fixation on youth and most of Hollywood's refusal to age with grace. One of the best of many good things to say about
Brothers & Sisters is how remarkable it is to see actresses with the chops of Sally Field and Patricia Wettig given substantial roles without having to compromise the fact that they are, shall we say, mature. I haven't a clue if this mini-breakthrough has resonated throughout corporate suites (I doubt it), and I'm not sure I want to know what focus groups have to say about anything, but I don't see a downside to what
Brothers & Sisters has accomplished. You would hope the triumph of Helen Mirren in the movies and on TV in the last year would inspire the industry to work harder to give veteran actors and actresses work worthy of their experience, reputation and longevity.
