Spooks star urges better roles for older actresses

Spooks actress Hermione Norris has hit out at a lack of decent roles for older actresses.

Norris, 43, branded the likes of Sex And The City, the story of four women in their mid-30s and 40s, "insulting".

In an interview with the Radio Times she said: "When you get to my age, the conversations women have – the preoccupations, the frustrations, the grief – are never represented."

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Norris, who made her name as Karen Marsden alongside James Nesbitt, Helen Baxendale and Fay Ripley in the television series Cold Feet in 1997, said: "Something like Sex and the City was insulting – women all clawing on to their youth when there's such ripe territory in honestly exploring women's lives as they get older."

The actress, who plays the lead in BBC1's new science fiction drama Outcasts, said: "It isn't just television, of course.

"If you pick up women's magazines, they are designed to make you feel s****er and to buy a product. It's tyrannical."

Since making her name in Cold Feet, the mother of two, who is married to writer-producer Stephen Wheeler, has gone on to enjoy a successful acting career, which has included leading roles in ITV crime drama Wire in the Blood and Kingdom where she starred alongside Stephen Fry, as well as playing MI5 counter terrorism section chief Ros Myers in hugely popular BBC drama Spooks.

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She has also refused to rule out a resurrection of her Cold Feet character, responding with the answer "never say never" when questioned about the possibility of that role being brought back to the screen.