Dolina Maclennan: 'Film role was taken from me due to ageism and misogyny'

Dolina, who became widely known after starring in the original production of The Cheviot, The Stag And The Black, Black Oil, said that she lost a part in an upcoming movie after insurance refused to cover her due to her age – something she questioned would have happened if she were a man.

Dolina, who at 86 is still an active independence campaigner and SNP member, told the Sunday National that the incident had played out over around two weeks this summer.

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She explained: “My part of the script, I learned it all, I had it all off pat, and I interviewed for the part on a Friday.

“My agent called me on the Wednesday morning to say ‘you've got the part and they're not seeing anybody else’. It was great. I was high as a kite, of course because it was rather a nice part and a nice idea of a film, and it appealed to me very much.

“Funnily enough, once every few weeks we have a curry lunch, all of us old folkies from the sixties – people like Dick Gaughan and Ian McCalman and Barbara Dickson, a whole lot of folk who were around back then – and I told them all the news because I was bursting with it.”

However, she went on: “Ten days later, my agent phoned to say, Doli, it's bad news, the insurance people won't cover you.

“The casting agent, the casting director, and the director have been working on this for 10 days, and the insurance company won't budge.”

Dolina said she had been told the film was “bonded” – meaning it is backed by a costly insurance policy so that investors can guarantee either the return of their money or the completion of the film.

“They have to make sure that the people who put money into it get their money back,” Dolina said. “They couldn't risk an 86-year-old falling or having a heart attack or something, I don't know. It's beyond a joke.”

Dolina Maclennan has raised concerns about ageism and misogyny (Image: Gordon Terris/NQ)

Dolina, whose varied career has seen her become known as a talented singer, actor, writer, broadcaster, and Gaelic campaigner, said she is still “very busy” with other work – including an upcoming theatre tour and a feature in a BBC documentary presented by Simon Schama.

As such, she felt the insurance firm’s decision had been based in both ageism and misogyny.

The Lewis-born actor, who is now based in Edinburgh, said the loss of the role had been particularly tough as it had given her a “lift” after a difficult spring in which she suffered two family bereavements as well as catching Covid.

Dolina said she had received nearly 100 messages from colleagues and friends – many of which she quipped “you couldn't repeat” – after posting about the incident on social media.

She told the Sunday National: “When I put it up on Facebook, I made it funny because I just suggested that the insurance man was a 60-year-old bald fat man who was so decrepit himself that he couldn't even manage nine holes of golf, that he was so misogynistic he couldn't possibly imagine a woman of my age being able to take a part in a film.

“I always look at the funny side of things, so that got me through it.”

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She said she had been asked to fill in a health form, which asked for her last medical check-up. This had been earlier in the year – after she recovered from Covid – and the advice had been simply to “take it easy for a couple of weeks”.

“I never had any heart trouble, never had any blood pressure trouble. I don't drink. There was nothing, absolutely nothing that could be a danger,” she said.

“Then [the form] said ‘date of birth’. So this was it. 1/1/38. ‘Age at next birthday’. I said 87 – which shocked me myself when I saw it written down.

“I can imagine an insurance guy saying ‘oh, well, that's out of the question. She should be sitting in one of those high chairs in a nursing home looking out the window, watching daytime television’.

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“That's the impression people get when you say your age. Whereas I'm darting about all over the place, taking part in a documentary series for BBC Oxford next week, and looking forward to another tour of Metagama, which we toured in the Hebrides last year and at Celtic Connections in January. Inactivity is alien to me.”

Dolina said she would be in touch with her trade union, Equity, who should look into the issue – although she asked that the production team and director remain anonymous as they have been “absolutely wonderful” and the insurance firm’s decision was out of their control.

“[Ageism] doesn't just affect me. It affects all women – or men – it affects anybody,” she said.

“If you remember, they used to use able-bodied actors to play disabled characters. So if they start using younger women to play older women while older women are still capable of doing it, it's a bad scene.”