From Celebrity Panels to Wellness Workshops, How GenSpace Is Reframing the Aging Conversation

Hacks. Abbott Elementary. Grace and Frankie. Curb Your Enthusiasm. The lion’s share of Nancy Meyers’ films. All popular, all featuring characters advanced in age.

In the conversation about diverse representation in media, the importance of seeing older adults onscreen (technically defined as over age 65) has historically gone largely ignored. This, of course, is a reflection of how seniors are overlooked in society. But philanthropist Wallis Annenberg’s GenSpace — a 7,000-square-foot senior center in L.A.’s Koreatown, and the site of THR‘s Raising Our Voices gala on May 31 — is working to change that.

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In addition to its daily fitness, wellness, and arts and crafts classes, the community center hosts such events as a January luncheon with the cast of 80 for Brady, a true story of four octogenarians who share a love for (now retired) NFL quarterback Tom Brady, and its producer Donna Gigliotti. The occasion featured a panel — designed to change the narrative of how people talk about older adults — with the film’s stars Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin, Sally Field and Billy Porter and was attended by Hollywood executives, writers and GenSpace members.

“We want stories centered on this population, being made by this population and, statistically, being watched far outside this population,” says Gigliotti. “It’s good for business, but it’s also good for society at large. And, there simply is no DEI movement that doesn’t include portrayal or hiring practices without older adults.”

Nuanced portrayals of seniors onscreen — which ditch stereotypes like the weak or grumpy homebound character — also can help combat ageism. “That’s just not accurate or good storytelling,” Gigliotti says, noting an American Psychological Association study that shows that negative thinking about aging can shorten a person’s life span by seven and a half years. “Outside of writers, most of Hollywood is actually run by execs in the older age bracket, and yet, the numbers seen on screen don’t accurately reflect the numbers in our homes, businesses, and playing active roles in communities every day.”

At the 80 for Brady luncheon, Fonda sounded a hopeful note about entertainment-industry trends in representation: “Older women [are] the fastest-growing demographic in the world. It’s a business, and if they want to meet the market, they’re going to have to start writing television shows about older women. And they’re doing that.”

Added Porter: “Growing older has been the thing that I am most proud of as a Black, out, queer man in the world. When I was younger, there was something inside of me that felt like I needed to care about what other people thought about me. The older I get – I just don’t give a f*ck.”

At GenSpace, which opened in April 2022, the average age of members (who pay a reasonable $10 a month) hovers around 72. Currently, the center has about 180 members who participate in three classes a week on average. Fitness classes include dance aerobics, belly dancing and tai chi, and there’s also a volunteer-led smartphone class, a horticultural therapy program and a choir.

Annenberg was inspired to open GenSpace by the surgeon general’s warning that loneliness and social isolation are an epidemic and a major health risk among older adults. The welcoming space, located in a diverse neighborhood served by public transportation, was created in consultation with the Stanford Center on Longevity and USC’s Leonard Davis School of Gerontology.

“We all will — if we’re lucky — continue to age. Too often, aging is portrayed as a decline, when in fact it can be an expansion into a deeper, more joyful way of living,” Annenberg says. “I’ve found it to be a time of vitality and invention, a time to spark new passion, new friendships, new projects — but it requires community and connection.”

This story first appeared in the May 31 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. Click here to subscribe.

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