Chicken Run star spitting feathers over ‘too old’ voice

THERE has been many a Hollywood row over an actress being passed over for a romantic role because of her age – but how old is too old to voice an animated chicken?

Julia Sawalha, 51, has claimed she was dropped for the sequel to Chicken Run, the 2000 Aardman Animations film, because she was “too old” to reprise the lead character.

The actress, best known for playing Saffron Monsoon in Absolutely Fabulous, said she had been officially “plucked, stuffed and roasted” in a post as she shared a letter saying she had not been recast as Ginger.

She wrote: “The reason they gave is that my voice now sounds ‘too old’ and they want a younger actress.

“Usually, an actress would be given the chance to do a voice test to determine the suitability of their pitch and tone. I, however, was not given this opportunity. I am passionate about my work and I don’t go down without a fight, so I did my own voice test at home and sent it to the producers.”

“Today I received a very kind and thoughtfully written response from one of the creatives, outlining their decision, most notably saying ‘Some of the voices (not yours, I agree) definitely sound older’. However, they stated: ‘We will be going ahead to recast the voice of Ginger.’”

Sawalha said she had gone to “great lengths” to prove that her voice had not changed since the original production. Her post, including a video comparison of her voice then and now, has been met with support.

Liz Tucker, the chairman of Women in Film & TV, said she would like executives to reconsider.

She told The Daily Telegraph: “It’s nothing but blatant ageism. We all know that after 30 men get more roles on screen and that’s when you start to see women’s screen roles start to drop off. I don’t think the stats have been done for voice-overs but I imagine it’s very similar. This is typical.”

Aardman Animations is best known for the Wallace and Gromit films, for which Peter Sallis voiced Wallace. Sallis voiced the first film, A Grand Day Out, in 1989, aged 68. He reprised the role for A Matter of Loaf and Death 19 years later.

The sequel to Chicken Run – the highest-grossing stop-motion animated film of all time – was announced in June. Last week it was reported that Mel Gibson’s role as Rocky had also been cut, which coincided with accusations by Winona Ryder of anti-semitic comments by Gibson, which he has always denied.

It is expected to go into production in 2021 and will be released by Netflix, who declined to comment. Producers Aardman Animations was approached for comment.

Sawalha said that if original cast members are used in the sequel, she would feel unfairly dismissed and added: “To say I am devastated and furious would be an understatement.”