Alex Kingston says she's out of 'ER'

LONDON, June 7 (UPI) -- British actress Alex Kingston says she is being cut from the U.S. television medical drama "ER" because she is too old.

The 41-year-old actress, who plays Dr. Elizabeth Corday, said her TV bosses are writing her out of the NBC series because they want to concentrate on younger cast members, including 28-year-old "Bend It Like Beckham" star Parminder Nagra.

"I suddenly felt very old surrounded by these young 20-somethings," Kingston told the British magazine Radio Times.

"Does it mean that I'm the geriatric that's being pushed out because she's too old? I understand (the show) needs to keep reinventing itself in order to keep going and apparently I, according to the producers and the writers, am part of the old fogeys who are no longer interesting."

Kingston said she has feared being axed for the past two years, but the news was still a shock.

"It's fine to have young med students, but you need to have figures of authority, people of different ages, races, shapes and sizes," she added.