Romcom ageism: is George Clooney right to hang up his heartthrob hat at 63?

The Guardian

25-03-2025

Name: Romcom age limits.
Age: 60.
Appearance: Twinkly (but slightly less twinkly than before).
Are we sure we should be doing this? We're going to get hammered for ageism, surely. Nah, it's fine.
Really? We're definitely going to get letters. No, it would be wrong and offensive if we were the ones saying that people were too old to be in romcoms. But we're not. We're just reporting on things that people in romcoms say.
Oh really? Like who? Like George Clooney. 'Look, I'm 63 years old. I'm not trying to compete with 25-year-old leading men,' he told 60 Minutes recently. 'I'm not doing romantic films any more.'
But wasn't he just in a romantic film? You're thinking of Ticket to Paradise, the film he made in 2022 when he was still a sexy young 60-year-old whippersnapper.
So he wouldn't make that today? No, are you kidding? He's 63, for heaven's sake. Don't be ridiculous.
Well, what about Hugh Grant? He's 64, and he was just in a romcom. You mean Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy?
Yes. Well, you're sort of right. But he wasn't the love interest, and his character was sort of pathetic for the whole thing. If we're playing by the rules, Grant hasn't been the star of an actual romcom since The Rewrite, which came out in 2014, when he was a spritely 54.
Come on, there must be someone. Matthew McConaughey? Well, he's only 55 and, therefore, still well within the Clooney Romcom Zone of Acceptability. But guess what? The last romcom he made was Ghosts of Girlfriends Past, and that came out in 2009, when he was still in his 30s (just).
I'm so conflicted. Tell me how to feel about this. Well, you should be pleased – it's unsightly to watch men in their seventh decade chasing around women young enough to be their daughters, which is usually the romcom dynamic.
OK, good. Also, since Grant has moved away from romcoms, he's made Heretic and Paddington 2, while McConaughey has embraced grittier parts in Interstellar and True Detective. The best work of their careers, in other words.
Wait! There's also Dustin Hoffman! Oh yes, he was in Last Chance Harvey when he was 71, and that was delightful. Plus, he starred opposite Emma Thompson!
But she was only 49 when it came out, which is still young. But then she was in Good Luck to You, Leo Grande, which came out in June 2022, at which point she was …
63! Yes! The same age that George Clooney is now!
So we're saying that Thompson is proof that over-60s can still be in romcoms. Yes, and also proof that she can do whatever she wants and everyone will be thrilled.
Do say: 'George Clooney has decided he's too old for romcoms.'
Don't say: 'But not too old for those coffee adverts, sadly.'