Latest news with #femaleDirectors
Daily Mail
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Winona Ryder, 53, reveals she was pressured by female directors to slow down signs of ageing and says it's weird now seeing 'women get s*** done' to look younger
Winona Ryder has revealed she was pressured by female directors to slow down signs of ageing in the early days of her career. The actress, 53, was just 15 years old when she landed her first big film role in the film Lucas, before being catapulted to stardom aged 16 after starring in 1988's Beetlejuice. In a new interview with ELLE UK, Winona opened up on other females in the industry advising her to slow down signs of ageing. She also revealed it feels strange working with 'woman who get weird shit done', alluding to cosmetic surgery and fillers. When asked how she feels about ageing, Winona explained: 'I don't mind it. But what's weird is when you're surrounded by young women getting weird s*** done.' 'I started my career as the youngest, and I always wanted to be older. 'I always knew I looked young. But I also knew that when I started ageing, it was gonna happen fast.' On feeling pressure from female directors to slow down signs of ageing: 'They'll say, 'Just relax your forehead. Relax.' I'm trying to be a great actor, and they're saying that over and over. It's nice that people are talking about how it's OK to age, but there's still enormous pressure. Every role I get is for a mother, you know? My career has definitely shifted.' During the cover shoot, Winona oozed confidence in a plunging black power suit, teamed with pointed heels. In another shot, the Stranger Things star bundled up in a stylish pale pink jacket and matching midi skirt. Elsewhere during the interview, Winona opened up about being sexually harassed by a director in the 90s. 'He [the director] came up to me, and he was like, 'OK, so, um, if we just try it like – you f*cking c*nt, I'm gonna destroy your f*cking life.' OK? So let's just do it like that?' And I had to f*cking act. And what's so crazy is my brother was working as a PA on the movie, and I didn't even tell him, and I didn't complain.' While she would not divulge the identities of those who harassed her, she added that she didn't realise the extent of her trauma until telling her Beetlejuice Beetlejuice co-star Jenna Ortega. She said: 'I was almost telling it like it was this funny story. Then I'm looking at Jenna [Ortega]'s face and imagining it happening to her. It wasn't until that moment that I was like, 'Oh my God, this is bad.'' In what was just her third big screen role, Winona landed her big break in 1988 in the quirky horror Beetlejuice. She starred as Lydia Deetz, the teenage goth who discovers her ability to see the dead, and is drawn into a marriage to the bio-exorcist Betelgeuse, who is desperate to return to the land of the living. Along with positive reviews, the film grossed a respectable $74.6 million at the box office, and has since become an 80s cult classic. Ryder starred as Lydia Deetz when she was just 16 years old. She has expressed in numerous interviews that she wasn't one of the popular kids in school and unfortunately, matters only got worse for her after Beetlejuice. 'I remember thinking, 'Ooh, it's, like, the number-one movie. This is going to make things great at school,'' she told Marie Claire UK. 'But it made things worse. They called me a witch.' After Beetlejuice, she starred in the cult classic Heathers (1988) and played Jerry Lee Lewis's cousin child bride Myra in Great Balls Of Fire (1989). The 90s were a pivotal time for her as she starred in Little Women (1994), The Crucible (1996), and one of her most iconic films, Girl, Interrupted (1999), which won star Angelina Jolie an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress. Winona herself also received two Oscar nods in this time, one for The Age Of Innocence, and another for Little Women. While Winona's career was on a solid trajectory throughout the 90s, things took a drastic turn in 2001, when she was arrested for shoplifting. She had allegedly stolen more than $5,000 worth of designer clothes and accessories from Saks Fifth Avenue in Beverly Hills. She was charged with grand theft and vandalism, but was acquitted on a burglary charge and ended up facing three years of probation, 480 hours of community service, $3,700 in fines and $6,355 in restitution to Saks along with mandatory psychological and drug counseling. The incident ultimately lead to her taking another break from her career to pursue 'other interests'. Winona began her return to the spotlight with an unlikely cameo in the 2009 Star Trek reboot as Mr Spock's mother, followed by the 2010 racy thriller Black Swan, starring as an bitter ballerina who is forced into retirement, to make way for a younger replacement. But it wasn't until Winona accepted the role as Joyce Byers in Stranger Things, starting in 2017, that she became a big name once more. The fantasy series tapped into a trend of 80s nostalgia, and told the story of a sinister threat terrorising the town of Hawkins, after the disappearance of young Will Byers. Winona was praised for her performance as the terrified mother Joyce, who is convinced a mysterious threat is reponsible for her son's disappearance. The show also kickstarted the careers of young stars including Finn Wolfhard, Millie Bobby Brown, and like Winona also helped to relaunch the career of star David Harbour. On offering words of wisdom to the younger cast of Stranger Things, she told ELLE: 'I was like, 'This doesn't happen. This is weird – the phenomenon. The work is the gift. That is why you're doing it.'' Which was what was instilled in me. And I think I was successful with some of them.' 'I've been trying to sort of change this narrative with the kids, because they have it drilled into them that they're so lucky and, you know, that this show 'made' them. I'm like, 'No. Netflix is so lucky. You guys are the special ones. Like, you guys are magic.'' The September issue of ELLE UK is on sale from 31 July.
RNZ News
25-06-2025
- Business
- RNZ News
Gender pay reversal identified by directors' fee survey
The survey also showed just 36 percent of private sector board directors were female. Photo: 123RF A survey on directors' fees has thrown up a surprise, showing female directors are earning more than their male counterparts in private sector boardrooms. The survey , by Strategic Pay, said female non-executive directors receive 17.2 percent more in fees on average. Managing director Cathy Hendry believes more women achieving higher positions in large listed companies is driving the change, but thinks there is more work to be done on gender balance on boards. "We have seen female directors increasing in terms of representation across the whole sample year-on-year, which is great to see. "The public sector is leading the way. You've almost got 50-50 percent representation male/females in the public sector [boards]. Its significantly lower in the private sector." The survey showed just 36 percent of private sector board directors were female, and just 21 percent were non-executive chairs. The survey highlighted a stark difference in the pay of directors on listed company boards compared to unlisted and private company boards. On average, directors on listed company boards earned 59 percent than their unlisted counterparts. Directors' fees were also increasing above the rate of inflation. Listed company directors' fees increased by just over 10 percent last year, while unlisted company directors say their fees increase by 8 percent on average. Hendry noted however that directors' fees had been static since Covid-19, and the rises were more of a catch-up. The pay gap between directors on private company boards and those on public sector boards was also pronounced, with those on listed company boards earning on average twice as much. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
Reuters
20-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Reuters
Iranian film director Jafar Panahi in Cannes for first time in over 20 years
CANNES, France, May 20 (Reuters) - Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi, who was barred from travelling by the government in Tehran for 15 years, appeared on the Cannes Film Festival's red carpet on Tuesday evening for the premiere of his competition entry "It Was Just An Accident". Panahi, who has been arrested several times for his filmmaking, was last at the festival in person in 2003, when "Crimson Gold" was screened in the Un Certain Regard category. His wife and daughter, as well as several of his cast members, including main actor Vahid Mobasseri, also attended. The 64-year-old director has not officially been under any sanctions for the past few years, and no court cases are currently pending, according to a spokesperson for the film. In 2010, an Iranian court banned Panahi from making movies or travelling abroad for 20 years after he was convicted of "propaganda against the system". Panahi wept after the film's premiere at the plush Grand Lumiere Theatre, his voice wavering as he dedicated the movie to banned filmmakers in Iran, particularly the female directors and actors who supported activists protesting for women's rights. In an interview with Screen Daily, opens new tab published on Tuesday, Panahi said that though those bans had been lifted, he still had to maintain a secrecy about his work and to work illegally. "It Was Just An Accident" follows Vahid, played by Mobasseri, who kidnaps a man with a false leg who looks just like the one who tortured him in prison and ruined his life. Vahid sets out to verify with other prison survivors that it is indeed their torturer, and then decide what to do with him. Panahi has won several international awards, including the Cannes Film Festival's Camera d'Or prize for his 1995 movie "White Balloon" and the 2015 Berlin Film Festival's Golden Bear for his film "Taxi", shot in Iran while he was free on bail.
News.com.au
19-05-2025
- Entertainment
- News.com.au
Nicole Kidman opens up about career and her big public pledge during candid chat in Cannes
IN CANNES Nicole Kidman has opened up about fulfilling a vow she made eight years ago and revealed the roles she's keen to take on next during a wide-ranging and candid chat in Cannes. The Australian actress appeared as a guest speaker for Kering's Women in Motion series, which was run in tandem with the annual film festival. Back in 2017, Kidman publicly pledged to work with a female director every 18 months in a bid to help uplift women in the industry. At the time, women had directed only 4% of the top-grossing films of the year. In 2024, that number was a little over 13%, but that 'still seems incredibly low', Kidman - dressed in a leather Balenciaga jacket and black jeans - admitted. The Nine Perfect Strangers star has personally worked with 27 women in the eight years since her vow. 'I was going to make it possible,' Kidman said. 'I was at a point where we had a discussion where there was such a disparity in terms of the choice. You'd go, 'Could a woman direct this?' 'And there wasn't a number of names where you could even consider people. They'd say it was someone's first time and you didn't want to risk it. 'I had to start to say this is how I am doing it. This is what I am doing. 'We will take the risk and we are going to mentor and support and help and then really protect. Because part of it is protecting and surrounding the women with almost like a force field of protection and support so they can do their best work. At the same time, it's giving them the opportunity where they feel like this isn't the only chance. A lot of it is like, 'OK, you get one shot.'' Despite her fierce support of female directors, Kidman firmly ruled out walking the well-worn path of actors trying their hand behind the camera. 'I find it incredibly fulfilling supporting filmmakers in a producer capacity. It's beautiful being an actor and saying, 'I'm in your hands and shape me and do with me what you will.' I enjoy the intimacy of the work. The intimacy is what keeps me coming back. It's salvation for me.' From Practical Magic to Big Little Lies to The Undoing, Kidman has well and truly shown off her range over the years. So what's next? 'I'm looking to experiment,' she said. 'I don't want to be contained. I don't want to be safe.' Kidman then addressed ageism in the industry, especially in regard to female actors. 'You get to a certain age and maybe you had made a great film in your 20s that got lauded and then suddenly you're in your 40s and you haven't followed it up or made choices that didn't succeed,' Kidman said. 'But you're like, 'I'm not over! Please still keep believing in me and investing in me.' That is important too, resisting ageism. There's the emerging talents and then the ones that are still going who have a wealth of knowledge and experience and have somehow been cast out or are not the cool person. 'It's about going, 'No, you actually can have a second or third chapter.'' Kidman was later honoured with an award at the Women in Motion gala held in Cannes on Sunday night.
ABC News
19-05-2025
- Entertainment
- ABC News
Nicole Kidman honoured at Cannes Film Festival for championing female directors
In 2017, Oscar-winning actor Nicole Kidman made a public declaration that she would work with a female director every 18 months. In the eight years since, Kidman has exceeded that pledge, having worked with 27 female directors to date, including projects in development. In recognition of her efforts, the Australian actor has picked up the 2025 Women in Motion award from luxury conglomerate Kering at the Cannes Film Festival. Kering has joined forces with the festival for the past decade to recognise a groundbreaking woman in film each year as part of the Women in Motion program which highlights the contribution made by women on and off the screen in culture and the arts. Of her pledge, Kidman told Kering that she was determined to "make it possible". "You would go, 'Okay, cool, well, could a woman direct this?' And there just wasn't the number of names that you could consider." Kidman said first-time directors, in particular, were seen as a risk that people were reluctant to take. "So, I went, I have to start to just say, well, this is how I'm doing it, and this is what I'm doing, and we'll take the risk, and we're going to mentor, and support, and help, and then really protect, because part of it is protecting and surrounding the women with, almost like, a force field of protection and support, so that they can do their best work," Kidman said. "And then at the same time giving them the opportunity to not feel like this is the only chance, because a lot of it is 'okay you get one shot', which as we know creatively is almost impossible." She said opportunities need to continue regardless of whether a project has taken off. "It just means you're in process, and we need to support the long process of building the female voices, particularly the directors and the writers, and then also all of the crew members." When announcing two weeks ago that Kidman would receive the award, Kering referred to the Australian actor's storytelling as "bold" and "uncompromising". "A major figure in cinema, Nicole Kidman has built a career marked as much by her artistic audacity as by her virtuosity and transformative portrayals that have reshaped the representation of women on screen," Kering posted on Instagram. "From Eyes Wide Shut and The Hours to Big Little Lies and Babygirl, her work reflects a deep commitment to bold, uncompromising storytelling." Kidman won an Academy Award in 2002 for her portrayal of Virginia Wolf in The Hours. She founded a production company called Blossom Films in 2010.
