- "Holy crap. Can you hear my inner thoughts?"
- "I can hear your inner thoughts!"
(both scream)
So, it's so meaningful to see this story
through the lens of a hardworking black woman,
which is perfectly paralleled with the fact
that you're not only the lead actress
but also an executive producer.
I remember being so frustrated,
knowing that I had all of this talent
and that I would have to wait.
And I just remember going, "You know, maybe
there's a reason behind it. Maybe I will be the voice
of 'keep fighting, never give up.'
I don't know what this is for, but God just give me longevity."
And with asking for longevity
and that's okay because as I'm climbing,
I'm garnering a massive audience of every walk of life
because I'm doin' this, I'm doin' that, I'm doin' this,
I'm over here dabbling in this, and now I'm doing comedy.
So, by the time we get to this project like this
and I'm executive producing and I'm starring
in my own comedy, now I have the audience to back me up
to come out and support because it wasn't overnight.
They trust me.
What advice would you offer to women struggling
to, kind of, navigate male dominated industries?
There was this saying that my mom had on her wall:
I think that's it.
You put their way that they think and then you still
remain as a lady and then you work hard to become
whatever it is that you are willing and wanting to become.
- I agree. I'd say: Observe your surroundings
be yourself, believe in yourself,
and don't allow anything or anyone to infiltrate that.
What is so special about reimagining
this story from a woman's perspective?
To be able to turn this idea on it's head about saying,
like, actually this character's problem isn't just
all of her beliefs.
And her beliefs are formed for a reason.
Mel Gibson's character's reason— they never really address
the reasons why he was the way that he was.
He was just this smooth, chauvinistic, misogynistic guy
operating in a world, sort of didn't look at women as equals
and all of that.
Taraji never looks at men as not equal.
She doesn't see herself as that.
She sees everybody as equal, she just wants
to be seen as equal. She wants the promotion,
the partnership, that she has earned, but the culture
around her will not provide that opportunity for her.
How can men really contribute to this conversation
about gender equality?
By listening, by listening to women.
Of course, there's the fun conceit of what would happen
if you could get inside the minds of men,
but ultimately you've got a lead character
that is forced to listen to other people.
The men in this movie, a lot of them
aren't listening to Taraji's character.
They see her as a competitor, they see her as
somebody to be kept down, they see her as just competition.
If we listened to each other more——and when you talk about
where women are today in terms of seeking empowerment
and fulfillment and being able to succeed
in a very patriarchal system——If men listened and viewed
women as equals, and viewed them for what they really are,
which is, in this world she's a very talented sports agent.
- She even says that, like, I'm not here to fill your quota.
- Yeah, yeah. - Correct. Sure. Absolutely.
- That was an important line to put in there.
There was, like, some discussion about that, and I said,
'It's really important that we say this.'
- Your character Will makes a point in the movie
that men and women essentially want
the same things from relationships.
Why do you think it is then that we tend to have
such trouble communicating or understanding each other?
- I think a lot of us are built on the expectations
of society for how we choose to carry ourselves and, you know,
it takes a little way for us to figure out how to
just be individuals, be independent, you know,
and really go after what we want independently.
I was raised by a woman, I got a little sister.
For me, respect for the woman in the household
was at the most high. There's this equality.
Sometimes in society they say "Man, woman"
I ain't with that, ya know what I mean?
Y'all gotta be equally yolked.
We gon' put some things on the tables together.