- This film that you have,
that you're putting out there into the world
is about a very infamous story,
the Boston Strangler.
But the angle it's taking is so unique
in the sense that it seems like
it's women having women's backs.
- Yes, I think it is extraordinary,
firstly, that the, we all know the story
of the Boston Strangler
and these women were completely erased from the narrative,
which is shocking.
That was the most shocking part of the story.
- [Drew] Yeah, the women who helped unveil the-
- [Carrie] The connections.
- The connections and the warnings,
and what people were supposed to be looking out for
because everyone was terrified.
- And they warned the women of Boston
that something was amiss because none of the men
in the establishment were paying attention to these killings
because the women's lives weren't valued.
- In fact, we have a clip, actually,
let me throw you to that.
It's a stunning film too, it's so beautiful.
- Someone came to the house?
- Put it in the mail slot.
It was just me and the kids home.
- You think it was a deranged cop or some deranged-
- I'm not exactly pleased about it either way.
(audience applauding)
- Now, you play Loretta McLaughlin and Jean Cole,
these real life journalists who,
as you say, were sort of put in the backseat, erased,
even though they were the ones who I think were
raising, you know, the biggest flags.
- But they also coined the name the Boston Strangler.
So they were the two that named it.
They were the two that linked the killings, you know,
and actually in the story of the Boston Strangler
they've been completely taken out.
- Keira, you know, I heard a story about you
that you yourself, you know,
had a moment where you had to really deal with,
as a woman, things coming at you in a way
that was really difficult to handle and navigate.
- Yeah. - Will you share that?
- Yeah, I mean, I think in my early twenties
I became very famous.
- And that was a lot to take on.
- [Keira] I think it's a lot to take on
when you are a teen, a kid who doesn't really,
isn't really aware of what you look like
and isn't really aware, I was very tomboyish, you know?
And I'm playing these roles that are not tomboyish,
they're gorgeous, they're the lusted after
kind of creatures in the films.
But what you, and you know that that's make believe,
but actually you're put in a public sphere
where suddenly that's what's being projected onto you.
So yeah, I had a breakdown at about 22, so I got a PTSD,
I was diagnosed with PTSD.
You know, so it's just being a woman in the public sphere,
how do we do that?
How are we meant to, you know, navigate that space
where there's not naturally space for us
and we have to fight for it.
And you, so you watch this film
and you watch this struggle that they have.
They're working mothers,
to try and be these amazing journalists,
but also to raise a family
and also to have a great relationship.
And, you know, something, the ball gets dropped somewhere.
And I think, so, me reading the script,
and I think for a lot of women who've seen this film,
they've found it a very cathartic experience.
And so kind of to be able to have a story
where you can explore that as well
is a very cathartic experience.
- [Drew] With the same-
- It's in the same circumstance.
- Yeah. - Because we were both,
you know, finding ourselves
working mothers of two young children
that's playing working mothers of children.
- [Drew] That's right.
- Trying to balance, you know, all those roles
and it was very challenging- - We were like,
how are you today?
- Yeah, tired.
- Who's doing this well?
Nobody. - Nobody, no.
It's lovely to have an ally.
When you go to work and you are like,
so I had a great one where in, I normally,
pre-children would've done so much research
and I would've learned to touch type
because touch typing is important
if you're playing a journalist at that era,
and I'm suddenly doing the scenes
where I'm meant to be typing I'm like,
I have no idea how to, I can't touch type.
I look at her, I'm like, "I can't touch type."
And she was like, of course you can't,
you have two children, pretend.
I was like, okay. - [Drew] That's what we need.
- [Carrie] Yes, yes.
- Now these two women that you are portraying are real life.
So what is one thing, Carrie, that like,
because if they've been forgotten
and thanks to you guys and this film,
they are absolutely the opposite,
they're being brought out into light
and appreciated for their work.
What is one thing about,
you know, the real life hero
that you portray that we should know?
- Well, what I love about Jean's story is
she was headed for nursing school.
She needed one more chemistry credit
and she was working at a Pinkham's drug store.
And a young girl, Frances McGrath,
disappeared from the town.
And so all the journalists were at the Pinkham's
using the public telephone.
And she joked with Bob Cort, "Hey, you got a job for me?"
And he called her in that fall
when she would've been going, you know, to nursing school.
And she had, she got a job as a copy boy.
And so she never had an education in journalism,
she worked her way up to become
an award-winning investigative journalist.
And so I just love the story of her,
you know, making her way in that male dominated sphere
from the bottom up.
There was one point she was making $30 a week
and childcare was $25 a week.
And all the men in the office
went in the office with her to advocate for a raise.
And it just goes the importance of having allies,
not just women, which of course we need,
but we need the men too.
- And Keira, for your amazing woman?
- [Keira] Yeah.
- You know?
- Yeah.
(audience applauding)
Well, I think Loretta McLaughlin,
she became an award-winning medical journalist
and she was one of the people at the forefront
of covering the AIDS crisis in Boston.
- Yes.
Well, thanks to you guys.
We now have that historical evidence
right out here in the present day,
because you can go see the Boston Strangler,
which you can watch today, premieres on Hulu.
I love you guys so much.
Thank you so much for coming here today.
I love you, I do.
(audience applauding)
(upbeat music)