Time & Perspective Quote by Sharon Gless

There is a particular kind of power in an actor drawing a boundary around a beloved role, and Sharon Gless does it with a scalpel. “But I’ve always believed” softens the blow just enough to sound principled rather than panicked, then she lands the real point: Christine Cagney has an expiration date. Not the character’s, necessarily, but the industry’s tolerance for seeing a woman age while still being written as sharp, desirable, volatile, and in charge.

Gless is talking about acting, but she’s also talking about image economics. Cagney, the hard-charging cop from Cagney & Lacey, was a breakout figure of 1980s TV feminism: ambitious, messy, unapologetically adult. Saying she “shouldn’t be played past a certain age” signals how tightly that kind of female authority is policed. Men get to play “seasoned,” “weathered,” “late-career legends.” Women get told to exit gracefully, or return only as a softened mentor, a widow, a punchline, a “reboot cameo.”

The word “shouldn’t” is the tell. It’s not “can’t,” not “won’t,” not even “I don’t want to.” It carries the internalized calculus performers learn: preserve the character’s myth, avoid letting the culture watch her get old and decide it’s embarrassing. Underneath is a weary professionalism - Gless protecting Cagney from becoming a referendum on wrinkles, and protecting herself from the industry’s favorite trap: punishing women for staying visible too long.