Scarlett Johansson says Hollywood is too vain to let older women be sexy

The 23-year-old actress and singer said that the movie industry was harder on women than men.

Johansson said: "Women kind of wilt as men sort of achieve as they get older, like wine or whatever.

"It's like, 'Oh, she's past her prime and she can't play a sex symbol'."

The Girl With A Pearl Earring star, who is engaged to Canadian actor Ryan Reynolds, 31, added: "It's just a preconceived notion about women in general and particularly in this industry. It's a very vain, vain industry."

Johansson's comments, which were published in Hello! magazine, is the latest in a string of actresses to complain of ageism in Hollywood.

Sharon Stone, 50, once quipped: "When I went to the Oscars, it was like, 'Oh, there's been an archaeological dig and look what we've found, a 40-year-old'."

British actress Charlotte Rampling, 62, also condemned the treatment of actresses of a certain age, saying: "The system in Europe is nothing like in Hollywood. It is not so barbaric in terms of the ageing process."

Last year Demi Moore, 45, was quoted as saying: "It's been a challenging few years, being the age I am.

"Almost to the point where I felt like, well, they don't know what to do with me. I am not 20. Not 30.

"There aren't that many good roles for women over 40.

"A lot of them don't have much substance, other than being someone's mother or wife."