THR continues their roundtable conversations, this week focusing on the actresses, interviewing Academy Award nominees Saoirse Ronan (“Lady Bird”), Allison Janney (“I, Tonya”), Mary J. Blige (“Mudbound”), in addition to Jennifer Lawrence (“mother!”), Jessica Chastain (“Molly’s Game”), and Emma Stone (“Battle of the Sexes”)
The conversation is, of course, great and focuses, unsurprisingly, on the recent wave of harassment allegations, with Jessica Chastain hoping, “the entertainment industry will never be the same” noting “there is a history of abuse against women in our industry, and it’s never been addressed.” Adding to Chastain’s comments, Jennifer Lawrence said “the big misconception … that this is just in the entertainment industry” and there needs to a conversation happening in every professional field.
Ronan, on the other hand, has had a more positive experience saying, “I was 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.” She goes on to note, “The really disappointing thing about all this is that [journalists and others in Hollywood] had all of this shit on all these men and women for the last few years, but they hadn’t done anything with it.”
Speaking about her film, Blige mentions seeing “ ‘Mudbound’ at Sundance, 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 the character. I was like, ‘Wow, OK, I’ve done something.” While Janney, talking about her memorable acting coaches, explains “Sanford Meisner told me, ‘Don’t let anyone tell you you’re too tall to act.’ ”
Closing things out, when asked about their favorite lines from their own films, Emma Stone chooses the amazing “Piss off, Quiznos” from her film “Easy A”. Check out the whole conversation below and keep an eye out for next week’s Screenwriter roundtable.