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Kaiser sent me this great in-depth interview from the L.A. Times with Emma Thompson; if you’re a fan, it’s worth a read in its entirety. She talks about some of the issues that she discussed with The New York Times around being a woman in the industry, walking away from Luck because of John Lasseter’s job at Skydance, and some of what she’s going to be doing to try to help younger women have a safer, more positive experience on and off movie sets.

Men have a huge motorway to power vs. women’s rutted track
“Women, on the other hand, have a kind of rutted track, on which there are many boulders. You can’t even get a bicycle down it; you have to get off the bike and lift it over things.”

On being criticized for being an activist
“I get in trouble all the time… If you don’t want to get in trouble you’re never going to get anything done or changed.”

“I know people will say, it’s OK for me — I’m established, I’m successful and I’m old. But I’ve been getting in trouble since I was young. So you can get to where you want to go and be in trouble the whole way through. If nothing else, I am proof of that.”

On “the gauntlet she threw down over [John] Lasseter”:
“I can’t speak up about women’s rights and then not do it. The same way you can’t say ‘skinniness doesn’t matter, we shouldn’t do that’ and then kill yourself to be tiny for movies. It doesn’t work.”

On “the complaint that increased attention to sexual harassment has left men unsure of how to behave”:
“Get a grip guys, it’s not rocket science. You just behave with respect and courtesy. Now shut up and get on with it. And please don’t make this your… problem. I’m so fed up with that I just want to smack them.”

On pay equity:
“I’ve had people say, ‘Well, it’s more complicated than that.’ No it’s not. It’s work that has to be done, and you pay someone to do it and you don’t pay them less because she’s a woman.”

She asked female workers on Last Christmas to talk about their experiences:
“They identified all sorts of things . . . . Such as it’s quite difficult to say that someone is being inappropriate or difficult if that person costs much more to replace than you. If you’re a runner, a little lass on the set, you can be replaced in two minutes. So if you’re being bullied or got at by a member of the higher-status community it’s very hard to say anything.”

On wanting “to help make women feel safer” on set
“Bullies and predators are very clever about when they try to intimidate and abuse. They don’t do it when there’s someone right next to them who’s going to say, ‘What … do you think you’re doing?’”

[From The L.A. Times]

I love and appreciate that Emma wants to take more concrete steps to help women on her films have positive, safe, enriching experiences. I hope that other people in positions of power have read this and decide to hold similar meetings. I also am jealous of the reporter, Mary McNamara, who mentioned that Emma’s husband, Greg Wise, and comedian Hannah Gadsby also happened to be home when she and Emma sat down for their interview. Nanette is still one of the most powerful performances I’ve ever seen. I also wonder what it’s like for the people whose home Emma and Greg were renting via Airbnb. I assume that they probably don’t get starstruck, but still, can you imagine getting that notification (or a notification for someone whose work you admire) and realizing that they are going to be staying in your house?

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