Julianne Moore is one of Hollywood’s most successful actors: she’s starred in a number of challenging roles, collected a bevy of awards and accolades, and made a name for herself as a true and undeniable talent.

And yet, like so many of her peers, Moore has been struck by the misogynistic nature of the film industry – particularly when it comes to the fact that so few women over the age of 30 are able to find compelling, rich and complex roles.

Read more: “This industry is f**king brutal.” Dakota Johnson slams Hollywood ageism

Explaining that she positively hates being referred to as “ageing” now that she’s older, Moore insists that trying to deny the ageing process will only “end in disaster”.

“I mean, let’s not talk about this idea of, ‘Oh no! I’m going to be 40!’ You could be dead. So enjoy it. It’s a privilege to age,” she tells InStyle magazine.

Adding that her age affects the sort of roles she is allowed to read for, Moore continues: “Even in scripts, they’ll refer to a character as ‘ageing.’

“Well... everyone is ageing.”

Moore adds: “In literature and in movies, when people try to stop the process, it always ends in disaster.

“I think it’s really important to be where you are.”

The actor goes on to explain that she has found that growing older has its benefits and that it has changed how she approaches her work: “The older I get, I find, the more I prepare.”

Read more: Olivia Wilde deemed “too old” to play Leonardo DiCaprio's wife

Moore continues: “I thought when I was younger that I was prepared. But it pales in comparison to the amount I do now. Maybe being young, you think, ‘Well, I know how to do this!’ and the older you get, the more you realise that you don’t know anything.

“Now I realise I locate the characters within myself. I don’t have to suppress or get rid of anything that’s mine; I just figure out what to amplify. But you do have to access all your emotional function to get there.”

Read more: Charlize Theron denies Hollywood has an ageism problem

It’s not the first time that Moore has called out Hollywood’s ageism problem.

However, while speaking to Marie Claire in 2016, she allowed: “It’s very difficult to find parts, no matter how old you are, no matter where you are and whether you’re a man or a woman.

“The movie industry is not in the business of finding good roles for actors or actresses. It is in the business of creating films that will make as much money as possible.”

Moore is not alone in her complaints about the industry’s problems with older women. In fact, Meryl Streep, Emma Thompson, Helen Mirren, Patricia Arquette and Anne Hathaway are just a few of the actors who have spoken out to highlight the issue of Hollywood ageism, with Thompson declaring it to be "insane".

Olivia Wilde and Maggie Gyllenhaal have also discussed being turned down for parts because they were deemed too old for the leading man – who were all played by male actors older than them.

However Charlize Theron famously defended youth-obsessed studio bosses when she told Entertainment Tonight: “Now that I'm 41 I work much more than 20 years ago, and I enjoy it even more. And all the women I know say the same thing, so it's time to stop this cliché.”

Images: Rex Features