Believing there are not enough good opportunities for women in Hollywood, thee 5 celebrities have spoken out on the subject, hoping to raise the issue of gender equality when it comes to landing film roles and working in the film industry. Believing that films are more often than not male-driven and don’t offer good female leads, these stars have spoken out on Hollywood’s sexism and say they wish they could tackle roles that have well written, strong female parts that aren’t simply a love interest or background character. Here is what they’ve each said on the issue.
Audrey Tautou
Audrey won’t play any bland female role and says she isn’t interested in being a simple love interest: ”It’s not easy or common to find very interesting and central female characters; I try to get those parts though because I’m not interested in playing a part where she serves soup to the guy.”
Ellen Page
Ellen has been surprised by what is expected of her as a female in Hollywood: ”Oh my God, yeah! It’s constant! It’s how you’re treated, it’s how you’re looked at, how you’re expected to look in a photo-shoot, it’s how you’re expected to shut up and not have an opinion. If you’re a girl and you don’t fit the very specific vision of what a girl should be, which is always from a man’s perspective, then you’re a little bit at a loss.”
Heather Graham
Heather believes the type of female roles are boring and she tries to pick original parts: ”Women don’t have the same amount of freedom to express that side of themselves in films or in life. I like the fact that some of my roles maybe help people open up their minds in the way they think about sex.”
Isla Fisher
Isla begun writing her own roles because she wasn’t happy with Hollywood’s male-centered films: “I realised after Wedding Crashers that there are not that many comic opportunities available for women in Hollywood. All the scripts are written for men and as a woman you end up playing the smallest roles rather than getting to the protagonist. There’s never a female Clouseau and I get bummed about that so I got together with some great writers, started writing for myself and pitching ideas and scripts to studios.”
Keira Knightley
Keira slams Hollywood for not having many leading female roles: “Hollywood has a really long way to go. I don’t think that anybody can deny that, really, and I think as much as you are getting more women playing lead roles… they’re still pretty few and far between.”
