"No leading ladies over 50"

Actress Kristin Scott Thomas has launched a stinging attack on British directors who are obsessed with youth.

"I’m still asked to do leading roles in France, never in the UK. Never ever. People will ask me why, and I don’t really know apart from this idea that in France people are less afraid of older women, or getting old. Why is it in Anglo-Saxon culture that age is a taboo?"

She made the remarks in a joint interview, with Francois Ozon, the director of her new film, 'In the House'. 

Asked by 'The Daily Telegraph' newspaper why her roles in French films tend to be more substantial than the British ones, she explains: "That’s just my age. Because they don’t want leading ladies that are over 50. It’s the truth! It’s the truth!"

Ozon admits he has also had trouble getting backing for films starring mature actresses.  "I had this problem when I made 'Under the Sand' with Charlotte Rampling, we couldn’t find the money to make the film, everyone said no one would care, we stopped it, we had to finish the film in 16mm, and then in the end it was a huge success."

Because people were moved by the story? "Yes. They were moved to see an actress who could be 50 and still be sexy. In England, you have the feeling that with women after 50 you don’t have sexuality any more, or if you have sexuality you are a nymphomaniac."

"Isabelle Huppert is fighting so much to have lead parts," Ozon agrees.

"And she wins!" rejoins Scott Thomas. "She never stops. She’s worse than me."

'In the House' is on release nationwide