On September 25, 2009, in their Entertainment section, FOXNEWS.com ran a piece called “Too Old for Action” by Amy and Nancy Harrington. The authors take a look at “aging stars” who they feel are too old to play in “action roles”. The stars that they consider too old are: Bruce Willis [54], Steven Seagal [58], Arnold Schwarzenegger [62], Clint Eastwood [79], Harrison Ford [67], Sylvester Stallone [63], Jean-Claude Van Damme [49], Mel Gibson [53], Jackie Chan [55], and Nicholas Cage [45].
Here’s what they had to say about Sly:
Sylvester Stallone is clearly not willing to accept that he’s a 63-year-old former action star, and he won’t let go. Quite the contrary. In his next film, “The Expendables,” he’s pulling together a who’s who of fading action heroes, from Dolph Lundgren to Mickey Rourke. Sly explained, “I wanted to do a film that was more about men and just doing things that we did back in the ’80s and ’90s with films that were a little bit more men on men, and actual physical stunts, and also a story that isn’t super-gigantic.” Thank goodness someone’s perpetuating the Hollywood legacy of overblown action films with no story line.
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I find it somewhat humorous that the photo of Sly that they chose to run with the article clearly shows that he’s not too old for “action roles”. “Rocky Balboa” and “Rambo” received positive critical reviews and great box office… and “The Expendables” is one of the most anticipated films of next year. Perhaps these authors should have given more thought to putting Sly in the mix.
As to the other stars, none of them are working mainly as “action stars” and to pre-judge their ability to play a role based soley on age is pretty weak. You can, however, read the whole article by clicking here.