(uptempo music)
- Hello, and welcome to Close Up
with the Hollywood Reporter Actresses.
I'm Matthew Belloni.
I'd like to welcome our guests today.
Saoirse Ronan.
Allison Janey.
Mary J Blige.
Emma Stone.
Jennifer Lawrence.
And, Jessica Chastain.
Let's get started.
Obviously the headlines in Hollywood this year
are incidents of alleged harassment
after incidents of alleged harassment in the industry.
Some people believe that the entertainment industry
will never be the same.
I'm curious about your thoughts on this
and whether all of these stories coming out
are going to lead to actual change,
and we'll start with Jessica.
- I hope the entertainment industry will never be the same.
I mean, if you look at Louis B Mayer and Fatty Arbuckle
and Jack Warner, you read Shirley Temple's book,
you find out what happened to her when she was a child,
there is a history of abuse against women in our industry,
and it's never been addressed,
and I think I'm devastated by all the stories
that have come out because its heartbreaking,
but at the same time I feel hopeful
because we're not ignoring it anymore.
It's painful for change, but it's needed.
It was needed many many years ago,
but what's coming out now there's abuses
not just in terms of gender, but there's so much
that needs to change about Hollywood,
and I think that the industry will become extinct
unless we show a more modern version
of the world that we're presented with.
- Do you feel a sense of vindication almost
that these stories are being told?
- Yeah, I think that the big misconception though
is that this is just in the entertainment industry.
I mean, once again the entertainment industry
is the stage at which you can see
the inner workings and the problems
that are all over the world.
The only reason why there's so much focus
on the entertainment industry
is because these people are famous.
If a flight attendant comes forward about a pilot
it doesn't end up in the news 'cause nobody knows about it.
That doesn't meant that there is less sexual abuse
going on anywhere else in the world,
in any other place of work,
but fortunately we're starting the conversation now.
- Do you agree with that,
or is there something specific about being an actress
where there is a power dynamic
and someone is in a position to make or break a career
and to exploit an actress in that way?
- Well, I think what she's referencing is definitely true.
We see these people.
Maybe they grab headlines in a different way,
or what we do grabs headlines in a different way,
but no, I think it's a pandemic.
It's through every industry.
There's a really amazing article that Brit Marling wrote
that was essentially saying if we were paid equally,
if women were paid equally in every industry
this would not be occurring.
I mean, this is something that women have to,
have had to fit into these different boxes
for so many years just to get work,
and if these things are happening,
and they bring them to people's attention
they're much more likely to be fired
or to be dismissed in any industry
than a man in a more powerful position,
so I think that it's a huge conversation
for our industry, certainly.
But, I would hope that this is only the tipping point
for every industry for us to discuss equal pay
for equal work for women across every industry
because that's been a change that we've needed
since the beginning of time and industry.
- Yeah.
(all laugh)
- Have these stories coming forward,
have they caused you to look at things
throughout your career maybe with a different light
and re-evaluate some of the interactions you may have had?
- I feel very fortunate that I've never experienced
any kind of harassment at all.
The only reason why I can think that is
I'm you know, five-foot-15,
and my career didn't start until later, 38,
and my life was started in the theater.
I didn't experience this, and yet I was always aware
of the casting couch.
That was just something that I thought
women had to navigate growing up in the business.
Or, I thought, "Well, someday I'll probably have to do that,
"but I know how I would."
I always felt prepared in my mind
if that were to occur what I would do,
but it's exciting to think of a time
where kids growing up won't know what that is,
that that will be a thing of the past,
and there won't be any more abuse of power.
That's the most upsetting thing to me
is people who abuse their positions,
people that people look up to,
artists who are revered, and of course young people
coming in are gonna look to them.
It's just one of the worst crimes I think
to abuse your influence and power in a negative way,
and it's exciting to think of our culture changing,
and it's high time.
- Have any of the stories that have come out
been especially resonant to you as an actress
who has grown up, essentially, in the industry?
- Yeah, I mean I have to say
that for me I was the same as Allison.
I've never experienced that.
I think I was very lucky that I was protected
from a lot of that.
I never was really exposed to what went on at parties.
I was never left on my own with anyone.
My mom and dad were always around,
so I was very protected in that way.
I mean, every story that's come out
has so much gravity to it, has so much weight to it,
and I think it would be wrong to escalate
one over the other, but I think just because
you can actually hear it happening.
The one with that Italian, was she an actress?
- She was a model and actress.
- [Saoirse] She was a model, actress.
- The Harvey Weinstein story.
- And, what was incredible about it
was that she was brave enough to go back the next day
because she knew that this was important
for this to come out, and the fact that she put herself
in that position again and made herself so vulnerable,
and still nothing was done about it.
- Yeah.
- And, that's the really disappointing thing
about all of this.
They've had all of this shit basically
on all of these men and women for the last few years,
but they haven't done anything with it.
It's just been swept under the carpet.
- Do you think that the culture will change?
Perhaps people will be less inclined to do these things
because of fear, but do you think the culture
of the leverage of power and culture of abuse will change?
- I hope eventually.
I think it's gonna be a while.
I think it's so deeply ingrained, unfortunately, socially.
I don't even know.
If you think about mothers with their sons,
obviously it's not coming from their parents.
It's this social proof of some way of your masculinity,
and also what Emma was saying is so true
that until we're equal in every way
then how can you expect us to be respected verbally
if we're not being respected in every other way?
- Yeah, whenever you have one demographic
that's in charge of the livelihood of another
you're gonna have abuses of power.
I mean, for me, I'm really interested
in your point of view on this
in terms of coming into the industry,
being in music, now being in film.
- In the industry, like her, I never had that problem.
I was always a tomboy and one of the guys,
and I feel really sad for the women,
but I'm happy that they're free.
Everyone that's coming out, I'm happy that they're free
because they had to hold onto a secret
that they ma have seen shrinks for
for years and years and years, so I'm just happy for them,
and I believe that things will change
because this is making other women say,
"Me too, me too, me too," and that's why it just
keeps happening every day, every day
because people are tired of sitting around
with that secret and that thing that holds them prisoner,
so I think it will change things
because people don't want to be in bondage anymore,
women anyway.
Women have been going through this
since they were children, you know?
As a child I went through it
all the way up until adulthood,
but when I got in the music business I never had it
because I went through so much of it in childhood.
- You said you were a tomboy.
Do you think you made that decision
to shield yourself from it?
- I did because I've been through so much as a child
and a teenager.
Not that I was a guy, I just wore baggier jeans
and Timberlands and hat turned backwards,
so I won't be so revealing.
It took me a very long time to even
wear makeup and tight clothes
because I had been through so much,
and that that I've been through has been a secret.
I exposed it on Oprah, but there's so much more
that people don't know, so like I said
I'm happy that these women are hopefully free
because it hurts, and you have to go through this,
women all over the world, like she said.
- That's another thing as well
is that these people who went through it
then had to get up the next day and still go to work,
or they've had to see these men for years
and shake their hand and take photographs with them
or get on a flight and work with them, whatever it is.
I mean, imagine how much strength that would have taken
to do that every day.
- Because I'm someone who holds a lot
and gets really nervous to speak a lot of the time,
we have to also recognize that there are so many women
who haven't told their stories yet,
who aren't comfortable to share,
and this is a deeply, and I know this
is a very millennial word, but it's a very triggering time
for a lot of women too to see these stories
come out one after the other
whether they have stories to share or not
about assault or harassment.
It's a very difficult thing to watch.
I also want to say for women
I feel so much compassion for those
who haven't shared their stories yet,
who are still getting up and going to work every day,
they're with their abuser, or have had abuse in their past,
and who are not ready to say anything.
I think that putting pressure on women to share it,
if you're not saying it now then you're complicit
in this evil that's occurring isn't fair also.
I think we need to have a lot of compassion
and patience that more and more stories might come out
in a slow way and in a way that feels comfortable
to people who have been victims of this kind of trauma.
- It's interesting.
We haven't seen as many people in the music industry
come forward as in the film and TV industry,
and I'm curious why you think that is.
Is it because of this?
Because people may still be afraid
or because it's less prevalent?
- I think a lot of people are not ready,
and a lot of people, or a lot of women...
I don't want to say it, but a lot of people
when you're young and you want to be an artist
or you want to be an actress
there's people that threaten you to do certain things.
- That's what I was gonna say.
They're afraid of losing their job.
- You do certain things, and that is sexual harassment,
but they don't know it is because they agreed.
- You don't know it is, but also sometimes
I've had this happen.
I've finally made the decision to stand up for myself.
I went to go to the bathroom at work,
and one of the producers stopped me on the way,
and was like, "You know, we can hear you on the microphone.
"You've been really unruly" which is not true.
- The mic should've been off anyway.
- Yeah, seriously.
They were very unprofessional
and basically threatened my job
because the director said something fucked up to me,
and I said, "That's sick.
"You can't talk to me like that," and then I got punished.
And, I was afraid I wasn't gonna be hired again.
- Yeah, you were difficult.
- Yeah, I was called difficult and a nightmare.
I think a lot of people aren't coming forward
because they're afraid they're not gonna work again.
- Exactly.
- That's what needs to change.
You need to be able to say, "This is wrong"
and have somebody do something about it
instead of saying, "Oh, it's wrong?
"Well, you're fired."
- I think you're right though, Emma,
in what you're saying too that the women need to know
that there's support here for them no matter what.
If they don't ever want to come out and say something
that's fine, but to know that
I would imagine, having not gone through it myself,
to know that other people have experienced this as well
and they're not the only one,
the strength that hopefully that will give them
just for themselves too is really important.
- To relate it a little bit to some of the films
we're talking about today, there's a big through line
in your film about this fight for equality
and fight to be taken seriously.
What about the current climate
did you bring to the preparation for this role?
- Well, we shot Battle of the Sexes in the spring of 2016,
so when it comes to our political climate
we're still very...
There was a lot of hope happening.
It was early on, early days,
so it was fascinating because it's a true story.
It's a historical event.
It happened in 1973, and now we're here 44 years later,
and the depressingly relevant facts of the film
are very tough to look at.
There have been strides made, like I've mentioned before.
Women can get their own credit card
without a male signing for it
which you couldn't in 1973.
You had to have a man sign.
So obviously, we have our own credit cards, I'm sure,
all of us now which is great,
and we're really really thankful.
- That's enough.
Nope, we're fine.
But, you know, there's such a long way to go.
- You're offering the men's winner exactly eight times
what you're offering the women's winner.
Do we bring in an eighth of the crowd?
- I don't know percentages.
- Well, the sold the exact same amount of tickets
to the women's final today as the men's.
Isn't that right, Jack?
- Today, I suppose so.
- Same sales, same prize money, makes sense to me.
- Oh, come on.
Be reasonable.
I mean, there's no way that we could afford that.
- What's your argument, Jack?
- Well, for one thing the men have families
that they have to support.
- Well, I'm the main breadwinner in my family.
- That was what we brought.
It was studying that era and seeing how little
in many ways has changed.
- Right, interesting.
The pay issue is interesting
because even before the current climate
there was a lot of stuff that came out about pay
and getting equal-
- Did you hear about this?
- Getting equal pay.
I will get to her.
- [Emma] Just wanted to make sure.
- [Jennifer] Thanks, John.
- But, how much is that part of the conversation
when you approach a new job?
Is it something that you're adamant about?
You want to know what everyone else is being paid?
You want to know that there's pay equality on a project?
Is that something that you bring up
before you take on a role?
- I do.
I think when you look at the industry
a lot of problems in terms of wage equality,
but also in terms of writers and directors
coming onto a project, it starts at the agency level
because I now have a production company,
and I'm asking, "Can you guys send me a list of writers?"
And, it's all men.
And, I'm realizing that on, not necessarily parts
because we wouldn't probably play the same role as an actor,
but for the agents they're gonna submit
the writers that have the higher quote
because they get a percentage of the quote,
so that's leading us to why there's not
so many female filmmakers, right?
But then also, in terms of wage equality
I don't understand if you're at a very successful agency,
and they know what everyone's making on the film
how an agent is okay with you making a third
of your co-star's salary?
I've been on projects.
After Zero Dark Thirty I was sent a lot of scripts
where it's a female protagonist,
and they wouldn't do my deal until they knew
who the male actor was because they needed
to do his deal first and then see what was leftover.
(all groan)
- What?
- Yeah, and I was like, "I'm not doing that anymore."
So from now on, if someone has something
they're bringing to me, great, let's do my deal,
but also if someone's showing up for three weeks
of a two month film, they're not getting paid more than me.
- No!
- No.
- It's something that I feel like before
I used to trust the industry.
- Be protectors.
- Exactly, but I think we've just come to realize
we have to be more proactive.
- Is that a priority for you?
You've been vocal on this issue.
- It's much easier for me now to be paid fairly.
The reason I spoke out about it was really, I'm fine.
I'm okay.
It's just if I'm going through this,
and once again we're in the industry,
everybody's looking at us, if we're going through this
every woman in the world is going through this,
so now obviously it's something that I look closely at.
The real problem is the normalization of it.
It's the reason why your agents don't think twice
about paying you a third because it's been so normalized
for so long.
That's why when I was being disrespected on the movie,
and I was being treated a certain way, and I would call,
nobody could do anything about it
because the behavior was normalized.
- It's an industry that's normalized abuse and violence
and pay gaps.
- Allison, is there a role that you've played
that has really stuck with you and influenced you
in your personal life especially?
- I was not expecting that question.
- Can I answer it for you?
- Please do that for me.
- If you'd like to talk about pay
you can do that as well, but...
- If I'd like to talk about what?
- About pay.
- Oh, pay.
It's so funny.
I do a TV show that two women are the leads,
so we're like, "Damn, we don't know how much
"we're not getting paid."
We don't have any way to compare.
- How much could we be making?
- [Matthew] If a man made more than you guys,
I would be surprised.
- Oh, I would, I would, I would...
You know, I suppose, well West Wing,
CJ Cregg was huge because she's such a great role
and role model, and I have a lot of people
that come up to me and say that
that character inspired them to go into politics,
go into public service, and that's fantastic.
I just feel like such a pretender to the throne
in that role because I'm not as clever or smart
as CJ is, and I feel bad about it
like I let people down when they actually meet me,
like, "Oh, you're not anything like CJ."
But, then there's some other roles...
That's the one.
I'm gonna go with that one.
- That's a good one.
- Was that what you were hoping I'd say?
- I'm a fan of that show.
(all chattering)
- I feel like I'm playing Password,
and I'm like, "Is this the right answer?"
(all chattering)
- I have watched that so many times,
and I'm like, "I am stealing that moment
"and that moment and that laughing thing."
- You have got to work with my...
- What's interesting is you just worked with
Aaron Sorkin on this film, and I was mentioning it before.
He has been criticized a little bit in the past
over some of the female characters,
and people have said that they don't
control their own destiny and things like that,
but then you look at a character like CJ Cregg
on the West Wing or your character in this film.
It seems like they do control their own destiny.
What's your take on that?
(Jessica sighs)
- What's my take on that?
What I'm so excited about,
and I hope that other people who've been in the industry
as long as Aaron Sorkin has
and ones that have as much power as he has
are inspired by what he did
because for his directorial debut
he decided to tell the story with a female protagonist,
and he made a film about patriarchy
in terms of family, in terms of industry, and government.
And, what women have to do to try to navigate
the rules of men.
- My brilliant find.
He lost $6 million on my table.
- Stop, stop.
- Moved to Florida, got a job as a substitute teacher,
then hanged himself in his shower.
- Oh, and that's your fault?
That's not your fault!
- Johnny Sutherland is dead.
Harlan Eustice is in jail in Nevada
wishing he was, but that's not why I'm saying no.
- You're not saying no.
- I was named after my great grandmother.
- I don't care.
We will stay here all night - Molly Dublin Bloom
is my name. - until you understand
nobody gives a shit about your good name.
- I do.
- [Charlie] Why?
Why? - Because.
- Tell me why!
- Because it's all I have left!
- When I read the script in the beginning
I was like, "I just can't believe he's telling this story."
Twice in the film men tell Molly
that she's not presenting herself appropriately physically.
Her boss tells her she has ugly clothes,
so she goes and buys really sexy clothes
to make her more desirable in the room,
and then also her lawyer tells her
she looks like a Cinemax version of herself,
and that she needs to change her clothes.
I mean, there's so much in this film
that deals with what a woman has to do
to try to find some bit of success,
to find some sense of power over her own life,
and I'm really impressed that Aaron Sorkin,
who could have told any story that he wanted,
chose to tell that story.
- I love to believe that it's because he has a daughter now.
I really think that has empowered him to write.
- He said that.
- He did say that?
Oh, well.
- But, also do you know what he did say to me the other day
when we were talking about what's going on
in the industry?
His daughter, Roxy, he said that he was talking to her
and saying, "Listen.
"When you go into the workforce
"if a guy grabs you or does anything to do
"you can scream, you can fight back,
"you can do all these things,"
and that she turned to him and said,
"Dad, why are you teaching me to defend myself
"and not teaching those guys not to be creeps?"
(Jennifer laughs)
- Good point. - Well played, Roxy.
- Yeah, so absolutely.
I think that's what he's trying to do now
is to teach men not to be creeps.
The onus isn't on the women.
Society has a way of blaming victims.
"You didn't come out soon enough"
or "you're not asking for enough money,"
but actually the onus is on the others
not to abuse their power.
- [Allison] Absolutely.
- Mary, this is your most ambitious feature you've done.
What was the preparation process like for this
compared to your normal music career
and preparation that you normally go through?
- Well, of course I needed an acting coach.
But, I think I was being prepared for this role
ever since I was a little girl.
My mom and my dad are Southern people,
and they came to New York in their 20's,
and they had me, and I was born in the Bronx,
so I'm a New York girl,
but my mom sent me to Georgia, Savannah, Georgia,
every summer.
My grandmother was this woman, Florence.
My aunt was this woman, Florence, all my aunts.
And, every woman in the South
they had farms and chickens and all these different things,
but they had this silent power.
They didn't really say much,
but you knew that they were powerful
because of the way their men treated them
and because of how everybody treated them.
So, that part of my life prepared me to be Florence.
Florence was a silent, powerful woman,
and when she spoke, her husband listened
because she didn't say much,
and she loved her family.
So, she was just this woman that really really
loved her family.
They were all stripped down.
They didn't wear things that we wear these days,
and they didn't hang on to them.
They just were free.
Free, strong women, so that's what prepared me.
Of course, and an acting coach.
(all laugh)
- You just come back.
- I will.
- You come call the way back.
You hear?
- I love you, mama.
- I love you too, baby.
(somber music)
- My acting coach is one of my friends,
so I was going through hell in my personal life,
and I just ran over to her house,
and I just threw myself on the floor,
and just started crying.
And, she was like, "This is what you do."
She didn't baby me.
She said, "You take all of that shit
"and you give it to Florence."
- And, I was so like, "Oh no, hug me, do something."
And, I had to pull myself together
and just give everything to Florence,
so that was the first thing I said to her.
"Help me, I'm going through it,"
and she said, "Forget it.
"Give it to Florence."
(lively music)
- Is there something memorable
that an acting coach has said to one of you
through your career or mentor figure
or something that you carry with you for each performance?
- Yeah, Sanford Mesiner told me
don't let anyone tell you you're too tall to act.
(all laugh)
- That's that James Dean quote.
"How can you measure acting in inches?"
They told him he was too short.
- Oh my god, that's so funny.
That always stays with me.
- Al Pacino told me, he directed my first film,
and he said that for film it has to be real,
so whatever you are feeling the camera's an extension.
It can see more into you than your scene partner.
So, to look at it not like it's a separate thing,
but it's part of your body almost.
It has a direct link to your soul,
so whatever you're feeling you can try to hide it,
but the camera's gonna get it.
There's this sense of once you allow that
and allow yourself to hide a little bit if you want,
but it's still gonna see it anyway,
and whatever you are feeling
that's what the character's feeling.
I was so lucky that that was my first film
because I was afraid to go from...
I started in theater,
and I was afraid to go from theater to film.
I thought there was gonna be a big difference in the acting,
and that advice changed everything for me.
- That's great.
- I did a period film recently,
and it was set in the 16th century.
- Brooklyn?
- No.
- [Jennifer] 16th century.
(all chattering)
- One of the best pieces of advice I've ever gotten
was from one of the other actors that was on the job.
I was trying to figure out a scene,
and it's like, you know, so much of it
is this beautiful, traditional, old language
which is great, but it's very hard
to get to the heart of it,
and there's this big scene in the film
between me and one of the other characters,
and I was trying to figure out how to do it,
and it was just this big turning point
for this bit in Mary Queen of Scots for Mary,
and I was talking to one of the other actors, and he said,
"Basically what it comes down to
"is you just have to talk like a human,"
and as soon as he said it to me I just went,
"Oh yeah, that's actually it."
No matter what era you're in
or what kind of language you're using,
it's just about remember that this person
is just a human being regardless
of what situation they're in.
- Did you have any challenge in playing
a version of your director on Lady Bird with her there?
- Well, I was just terrified that I was gonna
mess it up, I think, 'cause she was there every day.
She was there every day.
It's not necessarily autobiographical,
but I think what we've been saying
is when Greta and I came together
Lady Bird was born.
She's come from us, but she's very separate to us too,
and she's the girl that we've aspired to be a little bit
or aspired to be when we were 17.
- I want to go where culture is like New York.
- How did I raise such a snob?
- Or, at least Connecticut or New Hampshire
where writers live in the woods.
- You couldn't get into those schools anyway.
- Mom.
- You can't even pass your driver's test.
- Because you wouldn't let me practice enough.
- The way that you work, or the way that you don't work,
you're not even worth state tuition, Christine.
- My name is Lady Bird.
- Well, actually it's not, and it's ridiculous
because your name - Call me Lady Bird
like you said you would. - is Christine.
You should just got to city college.
With your work ethic just go to city college
and then to jail and then back to city college
and then maybe you'd learn to pull yourself up
and not expect everybody to do everything.
(screams)
- She's a ballsy girl as well.
She's confident and she's got a lot of self-belief,
and she's also got a lot of self-doubt.
And again, we've talked about it a lot now,
but just having well-rounded female characters
is so important, and it's something that we're all
gonna gravitate towards 'cause we want to do good work.
So, getting to play a character like that
that's magic and she's also flawed is amazing.
- Jennifer, when you were making mother!
I'm curious about the process
'cause obviously when you sign on to this film
you know it's gonna be polarizing,
and you know it's gonna go to a place
that's gonna make some people uncomfortable.
What is it like making a film like that?
Is there a conversation around
people are gonna go nuts over this?
- I mean, we would laugh about it,
but by the time we showed up nobody had any doubts
about what we were doing.
We spent three months meeting in a warehouse in Brooklyn
talking over the themes of the movie
and talking about the movie.
By the time we got there we were rock solid
on what we were doing
to the point that even when the movie came out
and we have an F on Cinemascore, 63%,
nobody's really surprised.
We're just like, "Well, yeah."
We know that when we were on set,
and it's kind of like an inside joke.
I've never done a movie before where...
Every time you make a movie you're like,
"I hope everyone likes it."
This was the first time I've ever made a movie
where we know not everybody's gonna like it.
- [Matthew] There was no fear of that?
- I mean, people hate it.
No.
I mean, if there was fear of
that none of us would have been there.
Anybody who showed up on that set was prepared.
We knew what we were doing.
There really were no surprises.
(floor creaks)
(gasps)
(high pitched ringing)
- Do you fear what the reaction to your work is gonna be?
(Jennifer scoffs)
- Yeah.
(Emma laughs)
We all do.
- Yeah, but how so?
When you're making it, you said that you went into this-
- [Jennifer] Sorry, you were asking them.
- I know, but you went into this
- None of us do.
- knowing it was gonna be polarizing.
When you're going into your projects
do you fear that is this gonna be taken the right way,
am I making a fool of myself?
That kind of thing.
- Yeah.
Yes, definitely.
But, I think that also there comes a point
where you just have to let it go,
and go, "All right, well this is it."
Like she was talking about, you get to know it so well
you go into it and you're like,
"Well this is what we're doing,"
so in the end if you had the great collaborative experience
with a group of people who really cared about the project...
I mean, I think it's actually harder
when the wheels come off when you're filming something,
when there's a bunch of different ideas
that are happening on the day
'cause I've certainly had that experience,
going into something thinking it was one thing,
and having it turn into a completely different experience.
That's harder to get behind it when it's coming out
and not be afraid of that kind of reaction,
but when you're in a team mentality,
which is the greatest thing, that's my favorite part
about getting to do the job that I do
is that feeling of being a team
and being a cog in a bigger machine,
it's so amazing to know well all right,
we all did this together, and whatever happens
we're going down with that ship.
- It's always a gamble.
You never know.
- And, you hope that you're doing work
that's exciting or challenging enough
that you don't know what the reaction
is necessarily gonna be.
- Are you usually right?
Are you usually right in how your films will be received?
- Well, it's interesting because I don't do anything...
I just assume it's not gonna be commercially successful.
I don't know why.
When I'm going in I always assume that,
but for me my fear is that they're not gonna understand
what we were doing.
(Emma laughs)
So, the idea of you need the Cliff Notes,
you know what I mean?
To go to an audience member and be like,
"Did you get that part?"
You know, all the work we put in.
- So, your biggest fear was my experience on mother!
(all laugh)
- But, I watched that movie and I loved it
because I was like, "Wow, this is so deep.
"Look at all this stuff they did."
For me, I love all the work that goes into a film
that my greatest fear is that they're not gonna understand
or get it, what we were doing,
but those are the films that usually in 20 years
all of a sudden will be revisited, you know?
So, I allow that to happen.
- I'm not normally right.
I have no instincts at all.
I just go in blindly, and then while I'm there I'm like,
"Who knows?"
I'm so bad at knowing if a movie is gonna be bad or good.
- Even after you've seen the finished product?
- Oh, yeah.
When I saw Winter's Bone I was like,
"Well, better lock up shop.
"No one's gonna see this."
You don't know, it's so hard.
The first time I watch anything
I'm just watching my double chin and my acne,
am I bloated?
Yeah, the first time I ever see a movie.
Am I the only one?
(all chattering)
- Listen, I'm my worst critic,
so I don't even listen to myself.
- You don't listen?
- I know I'm my worst critic 'cause like she said
I'm looking at just how horrible everything looks.
- You don't listen to your music either?
- No.
- [Saoirse] Do you not?
- No, not really.
And, I don't even look at any of my performances back again.
I just don't want to see it.
I just got used to listening to my own speaking voice
maybe five years ago.
- Speaking voice is the hardest part.
That's like listening to yourself on a voicemail.
It's like, "That's what I sound like?"
- No, seriously.
I just started listening to maybe a song from me.
- But, you know what's good about that though
is that its just going from your feeling
'cause I hate watching anything that I'm in,
never get anything out of it.
Ladybird was the first time I've even been able to sit down
and go, "Oh yeah, it's really good."
But, I think that's because you obviously
go from your instinct as well,
and you're performing from your instinct.
I find I don't need to look at the end product.
That's not what I'm doing it for.
I'm doing it for being on set and work.
- Right, and I don't want to see it again
and get programmed and do that again.
I don't ever want to do the same thing ever again
in anything I do.
I want to be fresh every time,
and I just don't want to see it anyway.
- I do my work is on the set, I have the experience,
and that's what it was for me,
and I don't need to see it.
And, then the movie comes out,
and I'm like, "Oh god, I got to go."
I will go down the red carpet,
and then I will go out to dinner
and meet people at the party, but I don't want to...
(all chattering)
- Yeah, what were you saying?
- We were saying Tate Taylor because we all had a little bit
to do with The Help, not all of us, I know,
but a lot of us at this table,
and Tate Taylor the director of The Help
made me laugh so much because I'd seen myself do this before
and on the set of The Help he goes,
"All right, why don't you just do your teary cry smile?"
And, I'm like, "I know exactly what it is."
It's like, with a tear.
"Do your teary cry smile in this scene.
"I don't care."
I was like, "Oh my god."
I've never done it since.
I was like, "Fuck, it's my teary cry smile moment."
If I see it in movies, I'm like, "God damn it."
- That's the worst if I see something and I recognize it.
So, you're the opposite.
You learn from watching yourself?
(all laugh)
- You're like, "He's figured me out.
"He got it."
- It's my shtick!
- I wonder if its because in real life
I don't really wear a lot of makeup normally.
I'm at my house, whatever, normal.
No one really stops me on the street
or anything like that.
Perhaps it's because I don't love the way I look normally
that when I'm acting my characters look so different.
- Is that important for you when you're choosing a role?
- [Jessica] Yes.
- Or, even once you've agreed to do something
that physically you just want it
to be very different to you.
- In fact with Molly's Game before I showed it,
it was a month before, Aaron started saying,
"You know, I think I want Molly to look like you."
And, I was like, "What?"
It was a whole out of nowhere
because if you Google Molly Bloom
she looks like a Kardashian.
It's a completely different thing.
- Take it easy.
(all laugh)
- In a good way, in the most fabulous way.
We did the shading, we did everything for this character
to show that.
I realized that for me I don't want it
to be me in a character.
- I think it's the same with accents as well.
I find that with accents.
I'm only starting to get to the stage now where-
- You don't have to do that accent anymore.
- Okay, all right guys.
I'm so excited to be here, honestly.
This is who I really am.
But, I think that was something that I found
I could use as a shield.
Not that I wasn't delving into the characters or anything.
Maybe because I started when I was young
it was a great way to separate myself from it.
- [Jennifer] Yeah, it's easier to come in and out that way.
- Yeah, I mean, your accent is such a huge part
of who you are, how you communicate, how you interact,
and I found only recently I'm getting to the stage
where I actually want to use my accent in a film.
It's a very vulnerable thing to do I think
with your physicality and how you sound
and things like that.
- Well.
(Mary laughs)
When I watched Rock of Ages I was like,
"That's Mary J Blige."
- [Saoirse] And, you didn't know what you looked like
'cause you never watch footage of yourself.
- I'm like, "Oh, that's awful."
That's not supposed to be Mary J Blige,
that's supposed to be the character.
And, then I saw Mudbound at Sundance,
and I looked at the character when I was finally able
'cause I was trying to direct everybody.
"Your part's coming, your part's coming."
I was trying to hide from my part,
and God was like.
And, when I saw the character, when I saw Florence
I just started crying because it wasn't me.
I was like, "Who is that?"
It was a character, so that was a moment for me
where it was like, "Wow okay, I've done something.
- And, then was it easier for you to watch yourself
because you could watch it and think,
"That's a character"?
- [Mary] I'm sorry?
- Was it easier for you to watch yourself on screen
because it wasn't you?
- From that moment on I was able
to watch the movie at Sundance.
I sat and I watched the whole movie,
but before my part came I was like, "Your part's coming."
- You sound horrible to sit next to at a premiere.
(all laugh)
- Everybody's like, "Shut up, shut up, shut up."
I'm trying to direct them,
and when my part came I was completely directed
to look at it, and I had to look at it, and it wasn't me.
- Have you watched it since?
- [Mary] And, I cried.
- [Saoirse] Have you watched it since
or have you only watched it the once?
- I think I watched it twice.
I think so.
I think we watched it in Toronto if I'm not mistaken.
But yeah, I mean, that was cool
'cause I see Mary J Blige in everything I do,
so I'm so glad we got rid of her.
(all laugh)
- Allison, is there someone in your career
or a performer that has most influenced your work?
- Oh gosh.
I don't know if there are.
Well, I mean Laurie Metcalf.
I first saw her in-
- That's Saoirse Ronan.
(all laugh)
- She plays her mother in Ladybird,
and I saw her on Broadway.
- You're still pointing at me.
- Well, I'm thinking.
Now it just went out of my head, in this play.
It was Balm in Gilead.
- The one this year?
- Oh yeah, the one with the monologue,
where Laurie had the long monologue.
- No, where Laurie did a monologue,
and I saw her and Glenne Headly,
and I literally, I had two feelings.
One was that I was gonna quit acting
'cause I would never be able to do what they did,
and then the other was like, "I want to do that."
They inspired me and scared the shit out of me
watching those brilliant women perform,
and then through the years other performances,
it's not like I'm just glued to one actress,
but different performances have inspired me over the years.
Of course, now that you're asking me I can't think of one,
but certainly every one of these women around this table
have inspired me.
- Laurie Metcalf.
Myself, Laurie.
- Jessica Chastain.
- [Saoirse] No, she's not Mary J Blige.
- Well, I am now.
- Yeah right, okay.
(all laugh)
- My god, Judi Dench.
- [Saoirse] Judi, she's so cool.
- One thing about I, Tonya that's interesting,
and this is something for the table as well
is the decision to take on a nasty character
and someone who is not just a villain in the story,
but is actually a real person.
- Yeah, and how about that one of my best friends
actually wrote it for me.
- [Matthew] Right.
- Whoa, they wrote that casting?
- Very offensive.
- [Mary] There was something about you.
- That's what I'm saying.
He must know the dark underside of my soul, I don't know.
He just knew that I would...
I think he knew.
We had one little short video clip
of the real LaVona Harding,
and in the clip she wears a fur coat
with a bird on her shoulder and a bowl haircut
and these big glasses, and it's phenomenal,
but it's the only footage we had,
and he couldn't find her.
He interviewed Tonya Harding and Jeff Gillooly
and found both of their stories were so wildly contradictory
that he decided, "I've got to tell this movie
"through everybody's point of view"
'cause it's crazy how everyone
has a completely different version of what happened,
so we couldn't find the mother,
so it's Tonya's version of her mother,
and Tonya thought her mother was a monster.
- Even when I was a kid did you ever love me or anything?
- You think Sonja Henie's mother loved her?
Poor fuckin' you.
I didn't stay home making apple Brown Betties.
No, I made you a champion
knowing you'd hate me for it.
That's the sacrifice a mother makes.
I wish I had a mother like me instead of nice.
Nice gets you shit.
I didn't like my mother either, so what?
I fucking gave you a gift!
- It was wonderful because I got to do
all this old age makeup.
I was three hours in makeup, and then I saw myself,
and I was like, "Oh my god, this is fantastic."
I don't have to worry about my jowls.
I didn't care about it.
It was so freeing to go in and work on a part
that I didn't care what I looked like,
and it was really fantastic.
Even seeing it I was like, "Oh god, I can watch myself."
I'm so awful.
I don't know it was easy to watch.
- [Matthew] It takes away the vanity.
- Yeah, there's no vanity involved in it.
It was really fun to play her.
I have to always find something in my characters
that I like or I understand what motivates her,
and there actually was something positive and good
that motivated her even though
she's not gonna win Mother of Year at all.
- Do you think about the morals of the character
before you agree to play the character?
No.
- [Jessica] I don't.
- No.
It doesn't matter.
- I mean, before I signed on I judged Molly a lot
'cause I saw pictures of her,
and I was like mmh, and then I met her,
and actually then blamed myself
for believing this story that the media had given me,
but I've played people who've killed people,
and I don't think you can judge them.
For me, I actually feel more sorry for people
who are making mistakes.
I have more empathy for the characters
that do the wrong thing.
- I judge mine, but then...
I'll just go right in.
(all laugh)
When I was doing mother! I've never played a character
that was so different in her personality than myself,
and it was incredibly irritating through the whole thing.
I would just continue to say,
"Well, why would she put up with that?"
And, "Why would she say that?"
Because she's not me.
That's not how she would handle something,
so I was very judgmental and thought she was very annoying,
but in between action and cut,
and when I was her I fully understood
why she would think that way,
but when I was me I was like, "What an idiot."
(all laugh)
(lively music)
- [Matthew] Emma, what's the worst career advice
you've ever been given?
- It's something I've said probably.
- Probably something that she told me.
(all laugh)
- Let me run your life.
- No, that's actually pretty good advice.
Probably advice I've given to myself,
things that I've told myself.
- I was just thinking the same thing.
I was just gonna tell you the worst advice you've given
is by yourself.
She's so hard on herself.
- Yeah.
And, I think because I've made mistakes before
I have such a hard time forgiving myself
that I get scared and then I lock up,
and I'm like, "Well, maybe I shouldn't do this."
As time has gone on, I've gotten more excited
to play people that are unlike me,
or where I need to go into different worlds
because I've felt for so long in my own experience,
so that's what I understood how to play,
but now that I am able to see how rewarding it is
to lose yourself in someone else's experience,
to find these people that are nothing like you,
and let their traits infuse your life.
I mean, playing Billie Jean has truly changed my life.
She's infused so much into my spirit.
Now it's incredibly exciting. - Did you have to be
convinced to do that?
- Sort of.
I mean, there was a shift that was happening
a couple of years ago, maybe it's just maturity,
or whatever my half is as an actor
and as a human, as a woman,
but it become something that I really wanted
to expand into because for a long time
I was playing different versions of myself,
teary cry smile and all.
(all laugh)
And, even if it wasn't supposed to be a version of myself
I didn't really fully understand how to access that.
- She's so mean.
You're so mean to my good friend, Emily.
- I know.
Please don't talk about my friend like that.
Yeah, but as time as gone on
it's been so incredibly rewarding to take risks,
to dare, to not be afraid to make mistakes
because as the most anxious kid
you've ever met my whole life has been defined by,
"Please don't mess up, I can't mess up, no."
And, that's changing which is incredible.
- How about you, Allison?
Worst career advice?
- It would be obviously from myself.
Don't do that, you're terrible.
I'm just a terrible self-critic too, I guess.
Are we all that way or no?
I don't know.
I'm really really hard on myself,
but I usually try to go,
"What is Allison telling Allison to do?
"Let's do the opposite."
- That's good advice.
- I joined a Broadway musical.
I got offered that, and I was like,
"I'm not doing a Broadway musical.
"I can't sing.
"I'm not doing that."
I would've loved to do it. - I saw you in a musical!
- Did you seen nine?
It's the only one I've done, so it had to be that one.
- [Jessica] It was good.
- It was good, I was all right, right?
- You were good.
You're always good.
- I love you.
- [Jessica] Please.
- Anyway, definitely myself.
No one else has.
Oh, there was one movie.
Nevermind.
(all laugh)
- How about you, Saoirse?
You've made interesting choices as an actress,
and you've avoided going the gigantic
Hollywood blockbuster route.
Is that by choice, or is that something
that you see yourself as a certain type of actress?
- No, definitely not.
I mean, listen.
If a big budget film came along that was great,
and they wanted me to be in it, and I liked the role
then yeah, of course I would do it.
But, I've just found I've just gravitated
towards certain things, but I think it would be wrong
to pigeon-hole yourself as an indie actor
or a movie star or whatever.
It was one of the best pieces of advice
that someone gave me recently is that
you should never do something because you should do it,
if you know what I mean.
You should only do something
because you want to or because you feel like you need to,
and so I think that's something
'cause I've been the same as you,
very very harsh critic on myself,
really beaten myself up about certain things over the years.
And, also just knowing that you haven't stood up
for yourself as much as you probably should,
and I've always had that in my head.
"I should do this, I should do this."
Not even just with work, but just in life.
It's something that I think you get over that
with maturity and just realizing what's actually important,
so that's something I've had to work on for sure.
- Is there an actor living or dead
that you would most like to meet or collaborate with?
- [Jessica] Gary Oldman.
- [Matthew] Really?
- Gary Oldman and Isabelle Huppert are my favorite.
Isabelle played my mother in a movie,
so Gary Oldman for sure.
- [Matthew] Why him?
- Since I was a little kid when I would watch him on screen
he's someone that when you watch
from performance to performance he doesn't
look like himself.
- [Jennifer] Totally, yeah.
You can never recognize him.
- That's what I'm drawn to in acting,
and it means that in real life
I'm sure he can go down the street
and people don't recognize him
which is insane to me that people
wouldn't recognize Gary Oldman, but he's a shape shifter.
He changes his voice, he changes the way he looks.
He's spectacular. - Especially in the new film.
- I've said that in my earlier interviews,
so I just want to say I think Jessica stole that from me.
- [Matthew] She stole that from you?
- Yeah, 'cause I used to talk about Gary Oldman.
- In 2012 I did an interview
where I said he was my cinematic crush.
- I hate answering these questions
because I feel like I'll say one actor,
and then I'll leave and there's like 45 other actors.
I want to say Bill Murray, but I can't.
- [Matthew] You can say Bill Murray.
- No, no, I'm gonna say Bill Murray.
No, I mean it.
Bill Murray.
I don't mean it flippantly, I mean Bill Murray,
but I hate answering these questions
'cause there's just too many.
- How about you?
- I mean, if I don't do something with Diane Keaton
before the end of time I don't know what I'll do.
She's my everything.
I love her so much.
- You talk about her a lot.
- I talk about her a little bit too much,
and I also absolutely love Hank Azaria.
I think he's criminally underrated and brilliant.
- Mary, you recently decided to focus on acting.
Is there a career path that you are envisioning?
- [Mary] A career path I'm envisioning for acting?
- Yeah, someone you'd really like to emulate
in the acting side, the choices they've made,
some of the roles they've played.
- I thought you meant personally, no.
I know this may sound cliche 'cause everyone says this.
Meryl Streep is...
I wish I could do some of that.
She's another one that transforms.
She goes from Death Becomes Her
to the movie where she's not even speaking English.
I forget the name of the movie.
- [Jessica] Sophie's Choice.
- Yeah.
She's just oh my goodness.
The question of someone I would like to act with
dead or alive, Frank Sinatra because I didn't know
he was a great actor like that,
and of course he's a great singer.
Yeah anyway, Angela Bassett is another one
that I think is just amazing.
Those are my top two,
and her because she's just amazing in Juno.
She made me laugh 'til I cried in Juno,
and she's just amazing in everything she does.
They just do it so easily.
I want to be able to do that. - She has the
Bill Murray-esque where no matter what she's doing
you love her so much.
Even in I, Tonya when she was being
the worst mother in the world I was like,
"No, I think this is gonna turn around.
"I really like her."
- I haven't seen I, Tonya yet,
and I saw a preview at the Hollywood Film Awards,
and I was like, "Oh, I have to see this movie."
When she's cursing her out with the cigarette.
- You're so brilliant in Mom as well.
When I'm sad that's what I would watch.
I love it.
I love you and Anna together.
It's great to watch.
- I love you, thank you.
That's really sweet.
- I want one Billie Jean King question.
How much did you interact with her?
How much did you take from her personal cues
and the things you learned from her in playing the role?
- Early on we met.
I sat with her and her partner Ilana
and we talked for a long time,
and we got each other's phone numbers,
and I was like, "Whew."
We started talking about things,
and I realized she had over 40 years of hindsight
on those kinds of events.
If you asked me about an event
that happened when I was 12.
I mean, obviously I would be in my 40's,
but I would say, "Well, okay.
"here's what I learned from that,
"and here's how my life changed from then.
"I can understand it in a different way now."
So, I realized pretty quickly that watching footage
of her at that time, studying as much as I possibly could
from that era was gonna benefit me in a different way
because she was in the midst of so much turmoil and struggle
and yet had to put on this public face
as essentially the leader of equality in her industry.
It was actually really helpful to immerse myself
in that time period and ask her questions
every one in a while, but now we've gotten
to know each other, now we're best friends.
- Did you see it for the first time
when she saw it for the first time?
- No, she watched it on her own in Vegas
twice in a row in a hotel room.
I was like, "She's watching it now?"
And, they were like, "Yeah, she's watching it again."
I was like, "What?"
(all laugh)
I didn't hear from her for a week.
- [Matthew] Really, and what was the first communication?
- She was so wonderful,
and she's been so supportive the whole time,
but I think it's just a deeply emotional experience for her.
I mean, think about your first love and how that turned out,
and then you're watching someone
play the heights of that love.
There was so much secrecy, and she was married.
She's so generous with her life story,
and that has to be so excruciating,
and she said that for her to watch
or for Ilana to watch,
you know Ilana's seen it nine times now,
and it's a lot.
I think it's a lot to take in.
It's really painful to sit with,
so she's been incredible to let us take that story
and share it with the world in that way.
- Is there one line from one of your movies,
one of your character's lines
that has stuck with you
and that you just really love?
- "You are not a stand up guy."
It's from Silver Linings Playbook,
and whenever David makes me mad I always said it to him.
- How often is that?
- Yesterday.
(all laugh)
- How about you, Jessica?
- Well, the only thing 'cause it's the line
that's always quoted to me.
Whenever someone recognizes me
they say, "I'm the mother fucker who found this place."
Always.
That's the only one.
- [Matthew] It's your line.
- It's good.
I was actually at a boat show in Florida a few weeks ago,
and these guys came over, this gay couple,
and they were Southern, and they were like,
"Pardon my language, but I love mother fucker."
I was like, "Yes!"
- [Matthew] That's fun.
- Yeah, it was good.
- [Matthew] Saoirse?
- I have to think about that for a second.
I think the one that I can just remember
which I think is just quite a good message anyway
is, "Adapt or die, think on your feet,"
or, "think on my feet even when I'm sleeping"
and that's from Hanna, and it's this bit
where her dad is basically preparing her for the world,
and she's got all of this drilled into her head
in order to go out into this world
that she knows nothing about,
but I think that's quite a good thing to remember,
to just adapt to every situation that you're in
as much as you can.
- I have a good one that actually I've wanted to say
in probably actually every movie I've ever done,
but I get to say it in this one.
"Well, my storyline is disappearing.
"What the fuck?"
(all laugh)
- [Matthew] That's a good line.
That was a big laugh line at the premiere.
- It's a very funny little scene.
They thought they were gonna cut it out,
but they just found, "Well, that might work here."
They kept moving it all throughout the movie
'cause it's such a funny.
- Very in the character too.
- "Love is a kind of survival."
Florence Jackson.
- [Matthew] Interesting.
That's great.
And, you have the last word.
- "Piss off Quiznos."
It's from Easy A.
I just shove a Quiznos guy and just say,
"Piss off Quiznos."
- [Matthew] That's a good one.
- I just watched it last night.
- I auditioned for Easy A.
I wanted it so bad.
- Well, guess what?
(Jennifer laughs)
You didn't get it.
You didn't get it because you suck!
- Outside!
- Have you ever told her that before?
- [Jennifer] We've auditioned for all the same stuff.
Oh my god.
- All the same stuff.
- Two days we spent doing this.
- We're texting back and forth.
That was only a couple months ago when we realized.
We were like, "Really?
- Well, what was funny is you and I were going,
and we were like, "Oh, I auditioned for that too!"
And, it wasn't until the next day that I was like,
"Oh my god, I auditioned for Easy A."
I didn't even remember it. - So weird.
- Have you ever thought about working together?
- No.
What?
(all laugh)
- [Matthew] Why not?
- [Emma] I would love to.
I keep trying to convince her.
- Damn.
- I have so many ideas.
She's always like, "We'll talk about it later."
- There's one idea that's floating around,
but it's secret.
- Yeah, it's a secret idea.
- Wait, did you forget about it,
or where you being a better secret keeper?
- No, I was just tying to be a good secret keeper.
- Oh, you're so much better than me.
- [Matthew] You can tell us what it is.
- No, we can't.
- On that note, I'd like to thank our guests today.
That was a terrific conversation.
Thank you everyone.
(lively music)
- Ready?
- [Cameraman] Okay, quiet on set.
- And, I look down the lens.
- Let's do it.
- Hi, I'm Margot Robbie.
- Bryan Cranston.
- Robert Pattinson.
- John Boyega.
- I'm Sam Rockwell.
- William Defoe.
- Emma Stone.
- Allison Janey.
- Guillermo del Toro, and thank you for watching.
- Thank you.
- Thank you for watching.
- Thanks for watching the Hollywood Reporter.
- The Hollywood Reporter.
- On YouTube.