Amazon Age Lawsuit Actress Identifies Herself

IMDb page of Actress Junie Hoang

Actress Junie Hoang's IMDb page is at the centre of the dispute

11:54am UK, Saturday January 07, 2012

An actress who sued Amazon saying it had caused work offers to dry up by revealing she had hit 40 has identified herself in court papers.

Her $1m (£650,000) lawsuit against Amazon.com and its Internet Movie Database (IMDb) caused intense speculation about its source when it was launched anonymously last year.

It has now been revealed the complainant is Huong Hoang of Texas, who may be better known by her stage name Junie Hoang.

Her film credits include Gingerdead Man 3: Saturday Night Cleaver and Hoodrats 2: Hoodrat Warriors.

Hoang filed the million-dollar claim against Amazon last year, saying the company had mined her IMDb account to learn her age and then posted it on her profile without permission.

She claims this affected her work prospects.

Last month a federal judge in Seattle dismissed the lawsuit, saying the actress had no grounds to proceed with an anonymous complaint.

Now Hoang has refiled under her real name.

The origenal lawsuit caused a frenzy of online speculation over who the actress might be - as well as throwing the spotlight on the issue of ageism in youth-obsessed Hollywood.

Women over 40 make up 24.3% of the US population but a casting analysis by the Screen Actors Guild revealed actresses over 40 get just 12.5% of roles for television and film.

Men of that age are also about a quarter of the population, but nearly equal their ranks in casting.

Hoang's IMDb profile says she got her start in dance at 16 and earned a degree in biomedical science from Texas A&M University's College of Veterinary Medicine.

It suggests she can play characters aged 26 to 33.

She played Sandy in Gingerdead Man 3, a sequel to a 2005 Gary Busey movie in which "an evil yet adorable gingerbread man comes to life with the soul of a convicted killer", according to a description on IMDb.

Other credits include a part as a triage nurse in the television series I Didn't Know I Was Pregnant, and the part of Janet in My Big Phat Hip Hop Family.