At the start of your career, you’re afraid to rock the boat
On working with alleged perpetrators of sexual abuse, she has said, ‘I made a decision very early on to not work with people that I felt abused their position.’ And on why she continues to speak out: ‘I’m going to speak my mind about any injustice that I see. I’m not afraid.’
Now, in an interview with Grazia, she has revealed how she thinks Hollywood can finally address its gender imbalance.
‘ There are self-imposed quotas that we should be employing in the industry,’ she said. ‘Justin Trudeau, the Canadian Prime Minister, has 50% women in his cabinet. When they asked why, he said it was because it was 2015. Or the screenwriter and producer Ryan Murphy: half of his directors are women.
‘I’ve given myself one, too: to work with a female film-maker every year. And I’m going to continue doing that until I see a real change. We have to make quotas for ourselves.’
The actor, who has twice been nominated for the Best Actress Oscar, was speaking to promote her latest film Woman Walks Ahead – directed by Susanna White. It details the real-life story of an encounter between a white woman (the artist/activist Catherine Weldon) and a Native American (the Sioux leader Sitting Bull).
‘I want movies about Asian-american actors, I want to see a film directed by an indigenous woman,’ she went on. ‘ What can I do for indigenous women? Because they are really the most ignored.’
Emma Watson and Jennifer Lawrence are among women who have talked about being labelled ‘difficult’ after choosing to speak out about sexism. Has she ever shared that fear? ‘Of course. At the start of your career as an actress you’re afraid to say anything, because you’re afraid to rock the boat.
‘But once I started working, I would see the same behaviour happening to other people. I found I was quicker to say, “That is not good, don’t do that.”
‘I have other things in my life, so if someone doesn’t want to hire me because I believe in diversity and equality, I’m good not to work with them. I don’t need to pretend. I’m not interested in playing a false game.’
Hollywood: you’ve been told.