People gloss over the life of character actors, especially on DL, presumably because you don't have to look like a Barbie doll, or be under 25, or stay insanely fit or undernourished, and you don't have to sleep your way into auditions, etc. It's just about the talent!
If only. Talk to working character actors, especially middle-aged ones.
The competition for scarce parts is brutal. Lots of cattle calls for commercials and TV bit parts, no matter how accomplished you are. The industry perception is that since you're old and not terribly attractive, you must do everything exceptionally well: broad comedy, heavy drama, physical schtick, accents, song & dance.
Older character roles in movies and TV tend to be poorly written, or underwritten, with some expectation that a good actor will bring even the worst crap to charming life. In any event, most stories aren't about these characters, anyway, it's about setting events in motion for the sexy 22 year old lead to react to.
A casting agent once pointed to the Golden Era of screwball comedies. Preston Sturges, in particular, filled his films with crazy looking, funny, memorable oddballs: cops, meter maids, shopgirls, farmers, rich old ladies. They always had great lines and faces and variety. He contrasted those films with supporting casts now, which now consist largely of aging wanna-bes and never-were leads who rarely get a chance to do or say anything interesting.... cause that'd pull focus from the lead!
Even as media keeps expanding, opportunities for actors seem to keep declining more and more.
