Only in 2014 would the bright and talented Jessica Chastain be forced to defend a smart, gracious statement she made that was chewed up and fashioned into a faux controversy that what, was intended to go viral so that, what, they could up their traffic for one day on their otherwise pointless and insignificant website?
Chastain is one of the few major actress in Hollywood right now, other than Streep, who cares enough about the health of women in the industry to say a goddamned thing, let alone, tell it like it is. Most of them smile and look pretty because they’re afraid of putting the male-driven industry off. Either that, or worse, they deflect the word “feminism” because they’re “cool girls” and such oppression does not apply to them.
Chastain is a hero to women in film and they should not only be rallying around her but they too should be speaking out the way they did in the 1970s. That is the only way things will change. Though the industry bends towards the tastes of PG-13 audiences, almost exclusively male, that can change. Those tastes can evolve.
Either way, Chastain first said this:
“I’m really, really supportive of women in Hollywood. I love Meryl Streep. She’s such an incredible actress. But I feel like she’s the only one in her age group who gets those parts. I’d like to see Jessica Lange in a movie again, you know? Or Susan Sarandon. Why isn’t Viola Davis a lead in a film? She’s one of the greatest actresses alive. And where are the Asian actors and actresses? I’m not saying, ‘We don’t want movies about men.’ I’m just saying, ‘Come on, all the men I know love women. So let’s also have some stories about these women. Let’s write something for them, guys—and let’s make room for women writers, too.'”
Then had to issue an explanation for the stupid people in the room:
“Page Six gets it terribly wrong. The headline is upsetting and against my thinking. I would never want to take roles away from a great actress. My point has always been: Why can one great actress of a certain age get roles in film? We need MORE roles in film for the many OTHER great actresses. It speaks to the lack of diversity in our industry.”
Yes, nobody is taking away Meryl Streep’s roles. She is her own demographic, one of the few who can really drive the box office. What Chastain is saying is WHY IS SHE THE ONLY MOTHER FUCKING ONE!? Where are the other Meryl Streeps in an industry that used to be driven by women and men equally.
Streep joins a very select group of actresses who continue to work into their 60s – like Helen Mirren and Judi Dench. This is likely why so many older actresses are forced to go under the knife if they want to keep working. One reason Streep doesn’t have to is that she has amazing bone structure. Her bones keep her beautiful face held in place. Such isn’t the case with many other actresses who then distort themselves to look youthful and therefore couldn’t play the older parts anyway, certainly not without people saying, “my god, what did they do to their face?”
But the amazing thing about Ms. Chastain is that she is atop the A list right now. She is enjoying a career high right now and yet, she’s using her platform to disseminate important ideas. And she might be one of the only high profile actresses doing that. That is really a great way to use a press tour, rather than simply going over the same old, same old.
But leave it to the collective idiocy to cluck around the henhouse like worried chickens over something they misinterpreted, or something they were told to misinterpret to sell magazines or clicks. It’s important, though, to listen to what Chastain is saying.
A few choice quotes by Chastain lately:
“The problem is, if I do a superhero movie, I don’t want to be the girlfriend. I don’t want to be the daughter. I want to wear a fucking cool costume with a scar on my face, with fight scenes. That’s what I’d love.”
Where is the Scarlett Johansson superhero movie? I don’t understand it, why is it taking so long for this? … This woman clearly shows that people want to go see her in the movies. Lucy, didn’t it beat Hercules by a lot opening weekend, when it was made for a lot less? She shows that she kicks ass, she’s a great actress. Under the Skin is an incredible film, and why are we still waiting for a go-ahead on a superhero movie starring Scarlett Johansson?”
“It’s a fact, the majority of films in Hollywood are from the male perspective…. And the female characters, very rarely do they get to speak to another female character in a movie, and when they do it’s usually about a guy, not anything else. So they’re very male-centric, Hollywood films, in general. So I think it’s incredible that Ned Benson, when I said I’d love to know where she goes, says okay, I’m going to write another film from the female perspective.”
To jealousy,
nothing is more frightful than laughter. ~ Jealousy Quotes
Can’t we all (or, at least, those of us who are) stop picking apart what Jessica said? She did it with good intentions. So what if she didn’t highlight the need for actresses her age to get the types of roles she does? She made a specific point, and there was nothing at all wrong with the point she made.
If y’all wanna make some other points, make them yourselves.
Streep, Mirren or Dench getting lead roles is because they have an audience. There are plenty of great actresses, but those are the only ones who are older females who are box office. Studios now are wary of producing adult dramas, period. I am in the camp that believes success for Streep and the others (including Jessica Lange or Viola Davis on television) only makes it better for other actresses behind them. Sandra Bullock and Cate Blanchett look best poised to remain viable actresses and big movie stars in their 50’s.
What about the era after Meryl decides to retire or go back to the heavens from where she once has descended?
I think it’s something interesting to think about.
Will projects like hers still be able to be greenlit? And if so, who’ll be next in line? Another actress taking all the good roles or do you honestly believe it will be different actresses?
This is a no brainier isn’t it?
I find that Salma Hayek is another actress who is always very vocal about this absolutely relevant topic. Just listen to the interview Dave Poland just posted with her: http://youtu.be/np3_n49k2SE
And what a difference television makes these days, such great roles for women. But why not in movies too? We want to see them there too.
The lack of great female roles for women of a certain age is having the work done on television where Jessica Lange for four years now has been killing it week to week for 13 weeks of the year and because the stigma aganist television still exists for some crazy reason people in the film industry are taking less notice of it. Chastain’s comments are always smart and well informed and honestly she’s never saying them to be affensive but she always has a point because unlike many actresses getting consistent work she is educated and when she makes comments like these it has the chance to make a difference. I love Streep just as much as anyone but i have to agree she takes all the great roles and if I had my way Glenn Close would be getting more work which is sadly not the case but again she did 5 seasons of television and like lange killed it. Women of a certain age may not be getting chances on the big screen but every week on television actresses like Jessica Lange, Glenn Close, Maggie Smith and Frances McDormand are getting great complex roles that because being told in long form have the chance to be greater then the mother/grandmother role they are likely to get in films.
Chastain on Interstellar: “Prepare yourself. It’s… epic. I saw it a while ago with Anne Hathaway, and when the lights came up, and Annie was crying and I was crying…I think it’s pretty special. It’s so beyond a science-fiction movie to me. It goes way deeper than that, in ways that 2001: A Space Odyssey goes beyond science fiction… There’s this thing of, what happens to people when they die? Are they still with you? I think this is a really important film, shockingly so.”
And the hype is building..
Wow, seriously? One person says “Meryl Streep shouldn’t be the only woman over forty getting major parts”, and the only interpretation some people can make of that comment is “So you want to redistribute Meryl Streep’s roles”? Like, the idea of increased overall female leading roles doesn’t even enter their minds. Unbelievable.
The A-list (actresses):
Definite: Angelina Jolie, Sandra Bullock, Jennifer Lawrence, Scarlett Johansson, Anne Hathaway, Jennifer Aniston.
Possible: Meryl Streep, Helen Mirren, Natalie Portman, Kristen Stewart, Emma Stone, Marion Cotillard, Amy Adams, Reese Witherspoon
Chastain is more like Naomi Watts or Michelle Williams in the “critic’s darling” category. Nothing wrong with that. But it’s not the A-list.
As to the question about film roles and age … it’s better to be an aging actress now than any other time. Seven of those I listed are about 40 years old or older. As I said, other parts of what she said are correct. There are not enough good roles for women.
Chastain’s status as a Box Office star is highly arguable because most of her films are arthouse fares so clearly we can’t expect her to ‘open’ movies like Eleanor Rigby but on the other hand the two films in her filmography that she did headline and were released nationwide, both opened No1 with 20M+ (Zero Dark Thirty, Mama) which the very least suggests, that were she interested in headlining studio films on a regular basis, she may just be able to open them on a regular basis, as well. Worth noting, that both films were low-budget, based on original screenplays (=no luxury of a built-in audience) and released (nationwide) in one of the worst BO months of the year (January).
I don’t see the need to attack or defend Chastain. She’s a big girl and can stand by her words. She did name-drop Streep. And what she said is true. Meryl Streep does take ALL the roles. I mentioned Barbra Streisand and Cher. What do those people do for a living? Sing. What movie does Meryl Streep have coming up? INTO THE WOODS. A movie where the song written for Streep has been cut. Hmm.. let me think. Is it possible that there are other seasoned actresses out there who might have been more appropriate then Meryl Streep to star in a musical? Gee, I don’t know. Duh-huh. But the fact is the reason Streep gets everything is more about the short-sightedness of the producers of most of the films who pick from the same handful of A-listers every damn time. In this case it’s about roles for 60-ish females which automatically puts Streep at number one on the list. That’s just how it is. If they need a middle-aged male we go to Depp, Clooney, Pitt. The next generation’s go-to guy looks like it’s turning out to be Matthew McConaughey or maybe Hugh Jackman with better actors DiCaprio and Bale right behind. There’s a pecking order and always has been. Streep is the top of the heap for her age group. If they go to her every time and she accepts every time, tough noogies.
Why does everything have to be about some group being oppressed? Meryl Streep is Meryl Streep end of story.
This post is not about defending Chastain, it’s about supporting her. I will, however, defend her against being called “tasteless and uncouth.”
That’s what happened. Chastain did stand by her words. She adamantly repeated what she told Glamour in stronger terms. She didn’t retract anything she said. She didn’t correct herself. She didn’t backpedal or vacillate. She didn’t tone anything down, she didn’t clarify. She repeated what she said for the hard-of-hearing shitheads at the NYPost.
Then when the NYPost came back to address the backlash that the Post itself had created, instead of retracting its misleading paraphrase, it put the blame on Chastain once more. The NYPost added this: “Chastain has now clarified what she meant to say.”
That’s another lie. That’s another tactic of rightwing tabloid journalism: Falsely represent someone’s words, and then when that person is forced to defend her actual words, the tabloid says “oh, see? she had to clarify what she said.” So then that gets picked up by 50 news outlets: “Chastain comes forward to clarify her gaffe.” It’s repulsive.
===
The NYPost lied, and then it managed to control the conversation by characterizing Chastain’s response as a “clarification” — that way the NYPost not only gets to fingerfuck Chastain, the NYPost then gets to force its disgusting finger in her mouth.
The New York Post smeared Jessica Chastain. She responded by defending her actual statement. Then the Post characterizes her defense as a “clarification” — to make it look like Chastain stuck her foot in her mouth and had to come back to fix her mistake.
This is what the rightwing spin machine does to women who don’t “behave” like obedient little Stepford fuckbunnies for the patriarchy.
So yes, Antoinette, it is about oppression. It’s about a conservative tabloid newspaper targeting a strong outspoken women by trying to make her look like a petty grasping bitch.
We don’t abide by that kind of shit around here. When Sasha sees this kind of injustice being perpetrated, she shines the spotlight on it. And then I do what I can to help explain to anyone who doesn’t understand why we bother to do what we do.
Let’s be perfectly candid and say it plainly: The problem is not Meryl Streep taking 3 roles per year for women over 60. The problem is that there are never more than 3 roles per year for women over 60.
That’s what Chastain said. She spoke the truth, factually. There’s no point pretending that some unnamed mystery women gets all the good roles for women over 60. Jessica Chastain was only saying what all of us already know.
It’s so amazing to watch a tremendously gifted actress and an incredibly successful star like her disseminate such an important subject for the film industry. Her statement not only highlights the necessity of films driven by great actresses that often find themselves with material not at all worthy of their talent but also works as an enlightening viewpoint on the current state of women’s rights. Meryl Streep is indeed a phenomenal actress, by far the best of her generation, yet again it’s truly disheartening that she’s the only one in her age group that gets parts that do justice to her talent. Really missed Jessica Lange in a great movie role as well. And Viola Davis! Just watch how she makes the most of her every scene in “The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Her” next to Jessica. Kudos to Jessica for being not only a great actress and a gorgeous woman, but also an incredibly intelligent person and a genuine artist who is aware of the troubling situation for older women in film nowadays. She’s just awesome!
K. Bowen, as a box office star is Chastain an A-lister? No. Is she in the A-list for anybody who respects acting? Yes. Is she well respected by her peers? Yes. Does she get some of the very, very best roles for women? Yes. Take Shelter, Zero Dark Thirty, Tree of Life, The Help. All different roles. I even watched loved her in The Debt. I haven’t seen Eleanor Rigby but I’m sure she’s fabulous in it. She’s as much of an A-lister as Jennifer Lawrence not in terms of box office (and coverage comes with that territory) but in terms of her acting abilities.
Ryan, thanks for reposting the Lupita link! It was great watching the video again. I was reminded why I love her.
This is such a random faux controversy typical for this time of the year (has the anti-campaigning started already ?). Chastain is saying what we all know : Streep is one of the lucky few (Dench, Mirren and that’s pretty much it) who is still given the opportunity to headline a film in spite of being an actress of a certain age. Fact. Fuck, the hilarious Fey-Poehler duo joked about this at the Golden Globes (“Meryl Streep proves there ARE still great roles for Meryl Streep over 60”), but I guess that wasn’t picked up by Page Six because one can joke about a problem but God forbid, someone actually dare to talk about it in a serious tone.
Btw, Bryce, I couldn’t agree more: More Sissy Spacek and Julie Christie, please! (the thing is, they did the kind of roles Streep shies away from, because roles like In the Bedroom and Away From Her are subtle, understated, internalized, which by all means is not Streep’s forte as of late)
Jesus, Celluloid Confessions, why should Chastain refrain from naming Streep, which is the obvious anomaly when it comes to women over 50? It’s perfectly natural to name a concrete example when you make a general observation. That is, if you want people to be able to follow what you’re saying.
Chastain even has the courtesy to applaud Streep’s talent and career. Now, It would have been a bitchy remark if she had said it in a context where she was trying to belittle Meryl, but that’s simply not the case here.
Please, let me say Sally Field in addition to all the other great actresses already mentioned in this thread. I was hoping she’d win her third Oscar for Lincoln in the hopes of that perhaps giving her more attention and possibly resulting in more good roles. She’s a stunningly gifted actress who deserves quality roles in quality films.
I want to see Sissy Spacek in movies. Once a year, please? I’ll shut-up with once every two! Nothing Meryl has done in the past decade (maybe more) has been nearly as significant as Spacek in IN THE BEDROOM, or let’s say Julie Christie in AWAY FROM HER, but the convo is about American actresses, right?
Jessica Chastain, great actress though she is, is most certainly not at the top of the A-list.
But I was watching The Devil Wears Prada the other day, and yes, I wish there were more movies with three great roles for women.
clearly, Chastain has been reading Stone.
@ Ryan Adams
With due respect sir, I haven’t fallen for anyone’s “trap.” Chastain could have been her point eloquently without name-dropping Meryl Streep. That was tasteless and uncouth. I get what she was trying to say and I agree wholeheartedly with the sentiment but name-dropping a fellow actress, someone in the same business as you, a much older actress who has defied expectations and is paving the way for renewed mainstream interest in stories about older women, is tasteless — absolutely tasteless. The people actually at the root of this problem, white Hollywood patriarchy, once again remain nameless. They are, once again, the shadow we point to and curse at: an empty space of nothingless. And Meryl Streep becomes the only tangible property attached to the problem.
My point remains: how would Chastain feel if Lucy Liu or Kimberly Elise complained about Jessica Chastain being offered all good the roles for women in their late 30s to mid 40s? They obviously have a fair argument but is it fair to name-drop Chastain? The Michael Fassbender analogy is inconsequential to my argument. I am NOT complaining about Chastain having a 1,000 movies out now. All I am saying if she wouldn’t be very happy if someone was using her to make a point about the lack of roles for women in a certain age group. Obviously I didn’t expect her to turn down her role in A Most Violent Year and nominate Lucy Liu instead.
If she really wants to be courageous, maybe she can name-drop a few top Hollywood execs who do not hire minority or older actresses for lead roles. Now that would be something worth applauding. Until then, I’m not interested. Thank you.
xx
I get it, CelluloidConfessions. I was mistaken in thinking that you might have let the NYPost’s sensationalist slant color your interpretation of what Jessica Chastain had to say. That Post headline is the thing that forced Chastain to make a followup statement, and that’s the thing I was focused on — because it was the Post’s twisting of Chastain’s words that brought this issue to Awards Daily in the first place.
But I get it, now. You have your own reasons for picking apart the remarks Chastain made. No matter how noble her intentions, you still want to say she’s tasteless. In spite of Chastain praising Streep to the moon, you still find fault in her invoking the name of Streep in any manner that doesn’t bow down and curtsy.
You do a nice enough job expressing the reasons for your dissatisfaction with what Chastain said. I do agree with you that the real villains here are the men in suits in corner offices who can’t conceive of making a movie about any woman over 50 unless Streep has time to play it.
But I wonder if you “could have made your great point just as eloquently” without slandering Jessica Chastain as “tasteless” and “uncouth” and questioning her courage just because she didn’t say all the great things she said in exactly the way you wanted her to say it.
“Until then, I’m not interested.”
See, it’s interesting to me that you’re not interested in anything Chastain has to say if she can’t watch her mouth and leave Meryl Streep out of it. But you’re entirely entitled to feel whichever way you want to feel about that.
It’s also interesting — now that I take time to step back and think about it — interesting to see that you were not influenced by the New York Post. Nope, you don’t need any help. You do the very same thing The New York Post does, but you do it in your own way: You read a candid, sincere, conscientious and commendable statement by Jessica Chastain, but you chose to fixate on the ONE “slip-up” that allows you to disregard ALL the good and honorable intentions and squawk about the one thing that can be turned into a controversy. Something to complain about.
Typical Page Six angle: No matter what the story, FIND THE NEGATIVITY AND MAKE THAT NEGATIVITY YOUR MAIN CONCERN.
You didn’t need the NYPost to guide you there. You found your very own path to the same destination: “EGAD! CHASTAIN LOOKED CROSS-EYED AT MERYL STREEP! SMASH HER! INSULT HER! BRING HER DOWN!”
Somehow the only thing that matters is that nobody is ever allowed speak the name “Streep” out loud unless it’s to hand her another award.
Yes, I get it now.
“But the point is not how many roles any individual actor gets hired to play. The point, for women, is that there are not enough roles being written for women in general.”
This is the crucial thing. This is what this cat fight should be about. It shouldn’t be about how anyone feel about Streep or Chastain or Davis as individuals or as actresses. It’s about recognizing a problem by shedding a light on it, so that eventually the situation will change.
@ZOOEY
Thank you!!!
Why doesn’t she speak about women in their late 30’s? Just like herself? Because she’s getting a lot of these roles. I mean A LOT. All due respect, but her statements are a bit hypocritical.
Zooey, I know you mean well. I know you, Zooey, I’ve noticed your smart, frisky comments. I like you! It’s good to have you around.
But the point is not how many roles any individual actor gets hired to play. The point, for women, is that there are not enough roles being written for women in general.
Listen, let me try to make it crystal clear: NOBODY IS COMPLAINING THAT TOM HARDY SHOULD NOT BE STARRING IN THREE MOVIES THIS YEAR.
hell, Tom Hardy could appear in 8 movies this year and there would be STILL BE 700 great roles for men left over this year so that Christoph Waltz can be in FOUR movies this year, and Michael Fassbender can be in FIVE movies this year, etc etc etc infinity.
None of you is pointing fingers at any MEN and complaining that these actors who are in high demand should make FEWER movies so that more of the poor out-of-work guys can have a chance.
You both want to attack Jessica Chastain for starring in three films this year, but it’s fine with you if Fassbender is in FIVE movies this year?
So who’s the hypocrite now?
Please don’t play the backbiting game that The New York Post and FOXNews want women to play.
Right-wing “news” outlets use that ploy all the time. They try to make women resent the fine upstanding ideals of other women. Please, don’t fall for that.
Doesn’t Chastain have like 50 movies coming now between now and 2015? Why doesn’t she use herself as an example of women in her generation not being able to find work because all the roles are being offered to her? He old is Chastain? 37 or 38? Black and Asian actresses in their late 30s and early 40s are also having a hard time securing great and complex roles yet Chastain has a new movie every month. I wonder how she would feel is Kimberly Elise did an interview and name-dropped her as someone hoarding all the great roles for women in her age group. I wonder.
Also, I find it funny that Chastain is now being proclaimed as this great feminist martyr because she mentioned Viola Davis and Asian actresses, yet minority actresses make the same complaints every year and no one makes posts about them or laud them for being “brave and revolutionary.” Instead, if they are lucky, they might end up in a New York Times article with the labels “angry black woman” and “less classically beautiful.”
CelluloidConfessions, you have fallen right into the trap that The New York Post set for you. It’s The New York Post who misrepresented Chastain’s words, and in fact invented an ugly headline that said, “Jessica Chastain: Give anyone but Meryl Streep a chance”
THAT is the ONLY source of the controversy. THAT bogus headline is the ONLY thing that Jessica Chastain had to disavow.
THAT IS NOT WHAT JESSICA CHASTAIN SAID. So, first, Chastain had to step up to the mic once more to REFUTE and REPUDIATE the stupid LIE of The New York Post.
Then Jessica Chastain bravely refused to waffle or backpedal. Instead she chose to REITERATE in even STRONGER terms what she had already plainly said in the first place:
NEVER ONCE did Chastain EVER say that she thinks Meryl Streep “hoards” all the good roles. She only said that she wishes there were MORE roles for women so that Meryl Streep and Susan Sarandon and Lessica Lange and many many other woman can be seen in movies too.
Chastain NEVER said she wants to see LESS of Meryl Streep. She wants just as much Streep, and she wants Sarandon, Lange, Close, Swinton, and dozens of other older actresses to have roles written for them too.
Chastain says that explicitly in her original interview with Glamour magazine — and that interview raised no eyebrows at all because it makes PERFECT SENSE. It was a noble and forthright and straightforward statement made with grace and generous compassion.
The FUCKING NEW YORK POST, that nasty right-wing rag then INVENTED a FALSE headline that tried to twist Chastain’s words and make it into a grotesque catfight for the lowbrow readers of that rag to slobber over.
So, please, don’t fall into that trap. Read what Jessica Chastain said in her own words. Don’t trust the asswipes at the New York Post to give you anything but the garbage version of reality.
If you’re angry at Chastain then you have become exactly what the New York Post wants you to be: someone who pits one woman against another.
Also, Fuck the fucking New York Times for printing that disgusting article you quote. Fuck them.
===
If you want to see Viola Davis lauded for speaking up in support of minority females in Hollywood, then read Awards Daily, because whenever Viola Davis or other actresses say smart things we quote them tirelessly.
We quote them here and we feature them here and here we show their videos here.
Fuck the New York Post, Fuck the New York Times, and Fuck the readers who gave me hell when I posted Lupita Nyongo’s astonishing brilliant speech about black womanhood a few days after she won her Oscar.
You want to see coverage praising the work of black women and other people of color in Hollywood? Then stick around here. We publish that kind of thing all the time.
But DO NOT come around here trying to portray Jessica Chastain as disreputable or disingenuous. Do not come around with the stink of The New York Post on your breath, because I smell that bullshit a mile away. You will not get very far with any piddling snipes like that. Not with me on watch.
Sigourney Weaver, Michelle Pfeiffer, Glenn Close, Meg Ryan. The list goes on and on. The New York Post is such a hogwash of a magazine, its hard to take anything of what they say seriously.
And bravo to Jessica Chastain! The smartest and wisest actress of her generation. I can see why they say she is the next Meryl Streep.
I was thinking about fanbases. Maybe they could. Diane Keaton’s done more of the RomCom type stuff. I guess she’s been successful.
Antoinette
I think you’re missing her point. You only think the likes of Sarandon and Lange couldn’t open a movie because they haven’t had the chance to do that in decades. Who knows, they may just be able to do it, were they given the kind of commercially viable scripts like The Devil Wears Prada, It’s Complicated, Mamma Mia etc. I think we have a tendency to forget that though Meryl Streep was/is definitely a highly acclaimed dramatic actress but NOT a solo Box Office draw up until The Devil Wears Prada (2006), as crazy it may sound, that was her STARmaking turn, she has been always highly acclaimed and respected by both the industry and the public, but make no mistake, until Prada, she had never opened a film and since then she opened SEVERAL…all happen to be commercially viable studio comedies that are historically easier to sell to the masses than the kind of dramatic work she had done almost exclusively before. Chastain is simply pointing out that there are OTHER female acting giants and legends out there who earned the right to be offered leads in studio films but sadly are not.
Are Jessica Lange and Susan Sarandon having problems getting work? I feel like they’re always there. I didn’t know what the controversy was before reading this so I thought it was going to be that she was dissing those actresses.
The idea of a Wonder Woman movie was always out there. But the problem always was that no one could come up with an actress to play the role. Now in the upcoming Superman vs. Batman they’ve hired someone who is little known and it would be unrealistic to think she could carry her own film. I thought there were talks of a Black Widow movie for Scarlett but I don’t know how interesting that character is in the comics.
I understand wanting more roles for women. There have been a bunch of recent successes for younger women but if she wants other women of a certain age besides Streep then you’d have to turn to people like Barbra Streisand or Cher. I don’t think the actresses she chose would get people out to the theater on opening weekend.
Good for Chastain. She calls it like it is and asks the right questions.
Perhaps Kathleen Kennedy, Dede Gardner, Alison Owen, Megan Allison, Emma Thomas or Nina Jacobson, all producers recently annointed “trailblazers” by EW and best known for their boy’s movies, can come up with some answers. Time’s awaitin’.
Chastain + LvT = Christmas
I’d love to see Chastain work with Lars von Trier. He’s one of the only filmmakers who consistently creates powerful, meaningful female roles. If she doesn’t mind flying out to Denmark.
How about let’s tell people what the offensive headline said:
Are we deliberately not going to say which nasty rag of a newspaper twisted the words of Jessica Chastain into a fake quote that she never said? I’m ok with that.
The collective idiocy are those people who read that rag of a newspaper and don’t know that the headline lingo was concocted out of thin air to create the tabloid sensationalism that lures a special type of idiot to buy that rag of a newspaper.
I have a pile of scripts – most of them with female leads and/or very central dimensional, interesting female roles. In the indie film world I honestly don’t think it’s about whether it’s a female or male lead – it’s just so freaking hard to get a movie financed if you’re not well established. I hope I can get at least one movie made (especially with a female lead) to improve this situation just a tiny bit. But, it’s also about the audience and what people want to see – whether it’s an indie or mainstream film. Audiences have to realize that paying for a movie is sort of like voting for it, and saying “I want more of that.” Frances Ha did so-so at the box office but it’s been very popular on Netflix. But, the way Netflix pays out (as far as I know) is they pay a license fee and they don’t pay-per-click – so the movie doesn’t make more money because you decided to wait to see it on Netflix. Whether it’s a female led movie – or just something unique – please pay for these movies. That’s the only way more of them will get made.
…and the irony is that Meryl Streep will be the first to tell you she agrees with every word Chastain said. Just remember all the acceptance speeches she used to demand the industry ‘to give Viola Davis a movie’ (SAG), to recognize less buzzy but nonetheless brilliant performances like Mia Wasikowska’s Jane Eyre (Golden Globe) and to remind people how brilliant a fading actress like Judy Davis is (Emmy)…and those are just a few of the MANY times she shouted from the rooftops to help women in film.