Aussie native Russell Crowe has recently come under a lot of heat after he gave an interview where he shares that Hollywood actresses needed to find "age-appropriate roles." This was his response when asked about issues of ageism in Hollywood.

The comments, which were given during an Australian Women's Weekly interview to promote his directorial debut, also mentions Hollywood legends, Meryl Streep and Helen Mirren as notable women in the industry who have successful found film roles despite their age.

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"The best thing about the industry I'm in -- movies -- is that there are roles for people in all different stages of life," Crowe said. "To be honest, I think you'll find that the woman who is saying that [the roles have dried up] is the woman who at 40, 45, 48, still wants to play the ingénue, and can't understand why she's not being cast as the 21-year-old."

His comments prompted audiences to call out the actor for sexism. However Streep stepped in to clarify the Gladiator star's sentiments during a press conference for her latest film, "Into the Woods."

She notes that the actor's words were simply, taken out of context.

The 64 year old actress explains-" The Russell Crowe thing, I'm so glad you asked about [it]. I read what he said -- all of what he said. It's been misappropriated, what he was talking about. He was talking about himself. The journalist asked him, 'Why don't you do another 'Gladiator,' you know, everybody loved that.' He said, 'I'm too old. I can't be the gladiator anymore. I'm playing parts that are appropriate to my age. Then the conversation went on to actresses. So that was proving a point, that he was talking about himself, as most actors do. That aside, I agree with him. It's good to live in the place where you are. [...] You can put old age on; it's a lot harder to take it off."

TagsRussell Crowe, Meryl Streep, sexism, Australian Women's Weekly, Into the Woods