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Following as Best Supporting Actress for The White Lotus  to create more great roles for mature women. In our latest blog post featuring guests discussing the topics that they feel are affecting the industry, we caught up with Tamzin to find out more.

*CONTENT WARNING: This video contains strong language*

What stood out for you about Jennifer Coolidge’s win at the Golden Globes in The White Lotus. What was it about that role and performance that stimulated you to tweet?

I think that she’s an incredible performer and the role and the show () are brilliant, and I love it, but what really made it stand out for me was her acceptance speech. It really hit home because we have times in our career, I think, as women of a certain age, that we remember as fruitful. There are times that are fruitful and there are times which aren’t, and I loved the way she spoke about that. To employ a woman who has been in the industry for an awfully long time and at times has been more successful than at others, and to get to a stage where she’s standing in front of the whole Hollywood Foreign Press (and the world in a way) and for her to be able to say that there were times when work was thin on the ground, that really resonated.

She spoke about how that one man, (The White Lotus creator and writer), took what was, in her head, a chance on her. But to me it doesn’t look like taking a chance. She seemed so humble and so grateful in her speech, but she did such an amazing job in the series that if I was a Producer or Commissioner or running a channel then I’d think that she was a safe bet.

It seems like Mike White was a bit of a guardian angel for her, and we all need those at times, someone who champions you. I’ve had a few people like that in my life.

Why do you think her speech had such a big response?

Her speech in general smacked of someone who had lived a life but wasn’t done yet. Who felt not just that she was being appreciated again in her 60s but felt “I’m doing a bang-up job of being a woman in my 60s in this industry”. Jennifer Coolidge showed us that it isn’t just about making a living. The passion and the gratitude that she showed for her career is also very deep inside me. I still feel that one day I’ll be ‘found out’ – the imposter syndrome.

When you look at you don’t think of an old woman. She was flying the flag for all of us over 50s, even late 40s women who have moved out of the ‘juve’ lead. Who are reading scripts where the role is the Mum or the Gran – sometimes I’m even a Nan now – It struck a chord not just with me, but there are an awful lot of brilliant actors out there who I think have been side-lined when they get to a certain age. I suppose what we should be asking ourselves is “instead of a 40-year-old man playing that role, could a 50-year-old woman?”

It’s amazing that one win and one speech can start such a movement for women who feel the same.

From your experience how have the scripts and roles you are offered evolved during your career?

It’s a first for me to seem like a champion for older women in this industry, because I’ve never been this age before! This is a first for me to get to being 50 years old and suddenly the roles aren’t there. They are a lot thinner on the ground. When you’re reading something, the parts are smaller. But watching the shows that I like to watch and the ones that have had such a massive impact recently – Happy Valley, The White Lotus – they have older women in lead roles. If they are so successful and so needed and so championed, then why do we not have more? We could do with a few more women like Happy Valley's  and at the forefront of Drama and Comedy.

I’ve worked a lot with who has written a few things with me in mind but the responses that we have had from the industry have often been along the lines of “it’s not our demographic”. Most people seem to be chasing after the 15–25-year-old demographic, but that age group are not watching television. I’m in that audience who still sit and put on 鲍鱼tv One, ITV, Channel 4, and I feel like we’re not seeing ourselves very much, but when we are then it’s lauded and celebrated.

Women are not seeing ourselves on TV as we really are. The women that I know who are over 50 are funny and sexy and interesting and clever and bright and sparky. They don’t take any sh*t! They are very interesting to watch. I loved Alma’s Not Normal, it’s all women, crazy personalities, it was so refreshing to watch. But there are very minimal projects either for us to audition for, meet for or read but also for us to watch. For a woman who still feels like she’s in her 30s it feels like we’re not really done yet, we’re not ready to be shelved at a certain age just because you’re not the juvenile lead. There are interesting, funny characters to be written, watched, and played by women of an older age.

To be fair I feel very lucky to have made a living and had a range of diverse jobs across theatre, TV and film but I don’t feel ‘done’. The stuff I’m reading now is mainly much smaller roles, which I’m fine with if it’s an interesting role. To give an example, I’m in the next series of ITV's  and I’m very proud of it. It’s quite harrowing, it’s right up my street really. I play the Nan. That works because of the nature of the role you believe that she would have had her kids young, but I suppose that is now the area I’m going into. But I had my actual kids ‘late’, I was 37 and 41, so I’ve still got a 10-year-old. I also have a 32-year-old man, so of course I still feel in my 30s, but the reality of it is that I don’t really see that on the screen. We’ve made great moves forward in other areas, but I don’t think that’s necessarily true of ageism. And I’m not unusual now to have young kids at my age.

You don’t see female characters over 50 running around like a 30-year-old unless they’re some kind of ‘cougar’. I’m looking for older women’s roles which are written in a beautiful, rounded way where there are loads of different characteristics you can tap into, not just a broad brushstroke of ‘She’s a Nan’ or ‘She’s a cougar’. But why does it still feel so unusual for the women to be older and the men to be younger? It doesn’t have to come under the umbrella of a ‘cougar’ show or a teacher/student relationship that shouldn’t have happened. It never seems to be two people happy in love. I read things and think ‘Why is he 50 and she’s 30?’, and that seems to come right down from Hollywood.

Do you think the problem lies with writers not creating these fully rounded and nuanced roles for more mature women? Or does it lie elsewhere in the industry?

I don’t think the problem is the writing, there is a flow of creativity coming from writers that seems to be three dimensional and rich and colourful. I’ve had many writers get in touch with me since the tweet and say “That’s all I write, I’ve got four projects, I only write for mature women”. But if the feedback from industry is “that’s not our demographic” then there’s nothing writers can do – except for get it made yourself - but that’s easier said than done.

Where are the people who are making programmes for my demographic? I think the plays, the TV scripts and film scripts are out there. Maybe Jennifer Coolidge has just made it a bit ‘cooler’ and things will change?

How important do you think it is that writers have the same life experience as the characters they write?

I don’t think writers need to have the same experience, but they do need to have an understanding. They need an understanding of the human psyche and where that person might be in their life.

What would be your advice to budding writers who want to include more mature female roles in their work even if they are not from that demographic themself?

Maybe younger writers could spend some time with some women over 50. Whether that means going and having a drink, shadowing them. I’m not trying to sound patronising, but I think with much younger writers they need to be reminded of how youthful a 50-year-old woman is now. We are not in a rocking chair and knitting! With how people live much longer and healthier lives now on the whole the narrative of what a woman over 50 is like feels like it needs rewriting.

And once we hit 50 women don’t all fall into one category (although I do think that more mature women tend to have developed greater emotional intelligence). There’s still a massive, colourful range of women who are completely different from one another and they’re desperate to see themselves on telly. I would sit down and watch most things that have women in who are over the age of 45 and all of my friends feel the same. I also think writers don’t need to shy away from tough subject matter when writing mature female roles.

When these characters are given a chance - we see that in the writing of Sally Wainwright, Sharon Horgan, the late Kay Mellor - their shows are brilliant. But there are more than just ten great writers for women. The main thing is that women are shown authentically, that’s what we’re all striving for.

In the end this isn’t a gripe, it’s just an observation. If Jennifer Coolidge can create such massive waves with a character that’s drawn beautifully then think how women would feel represented if there was one character like that in every programme?

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(Editor's note: The title has been updated to WRITING TODAY - Please write more great characters for women over 50 to more accurately reflect the content of the interview.)