Judith Light isn't all that concerned about ageism in Hollywood: 'It's just part of the business'

• Judith Light said ageism is "just part of the business" in a new interview with Insider.
• "Being so youth obsessed is not something that we need to focus on," the "Shining Vale" star said.

Judith Light thinks age playing a major part in casting, particularly for women, is just "part of the culture" in Hollywood — but not something that needs to be "focused on."

Light, who stars on Starz's new show "Shining Vale" opposite Courteney Cox and Mira Sorvino, told Insider that she's definitely noticed how older actors are treated in Hollywood.

"It's just part of the business," 73-year-old Light said.

But the veteran actress, who got her start with a breakthrough role on the daytime soap opera "One Life to Live" in 1977 and has enjoyed a thriving career on shows like the critically acclaimed Amazon series "Transparent" in the decades since, says she's also had younger roles rewritten for her.

"There have been other roles where they've been written for somebody younger, and then I talk to [filmmakers] and they say, 'Wait, we're gonna go with you with the age that you are,'" the actress continued. "So it balances itself out."

According to Light, people "have to be careful" discussing ageism in Hollywood.

"Our industry is very age conscious, and we don't have to get into, 'Isn't it terrible, the way that often we get treated,'" Light said. "We know that it's part of the business. It's inappropriate, it's part of the culture."

"Being so youth obsessed is not something that we need to focus on," she added.

Light also praised how "Shining Vale" presents its older female characters. On the new series, premiering Sunday, she plays Joan, the mentally-ill mother of Courteney Cox's character, Pat.

"This show is showing you what it means to be a person who can live with their age, deal with their mental illness, and talk about menopause, talk about their sexuality," she said.

"Shining Vale," starring Light, Cox, Sorvino, and Greg Kinnear, premieres Sunday on Starz. You can watch the trailer below.