KREW: “I find that it’s not happening that much here, which is
what we’re about, but overseas it’s okay to wear a few different hats
and be an actress. I guess it’s a little more of an American culture.”
SHANNON: “There aren’t many doing it here. Although Claudia
[Karvan] is, she’s loving producing.”
ST: “Margot Robbie has mentioned the difficulty in starting out in
Hollywood without any guidance. Have any of you had good mentors?”
GR ACIE: “I’ve always had [director] Gill Armstrong, and I’ve
got [director] Rob Luketic. He’s someone in LA who would call
me every week and go: ‘I’m cooking you a steak.’ Sometimes you
can have a mentor who can just be there for when shit goes bad
when you’re away, not just to help you along the way.”
ROSE: “I’ve never really had one. People always think Glenn
[Close] is because of our roles in Damages, but she’s always been
more of a dear friend. I would have loved to have had more
[support]. You know who was great with me was Heath Ledger
- he was wonderful and he would help me get auditions and he was
so generous when we started out when we first went to LA.”
KREW: “The women in this room are the people I call on. Other
than that, I’ve got my sister.”
JESSICA: “Last year I went to a Women In Film event and I had
no idea this was available to me. In a way this group is hoping to
fill that void – not just to mentor each other, but maybe other people.”
SHANNON: “I was mentored by men in the theatre industry:
Neil Armfield and Wayne Blair ... but there are more female
directors now than when I first graduated and then in the film
industry I have to say it’s really been women.”
ST: “Recently there’s been some different female
characters on screen, especially on cable TV. Are writers
creating more interesting characters for women?”
KREW: “I think so. I think Lena Dunham had a
strong impact on the way female characters were
accepted and flawed.”
ROSE: “On TV, the roles are better traditionally for
women anyway, and now with the advent of cable and
all that content – The Honourable Woman, To p o f t h e
Lake, Homeland, Olive Kitteridge – we’re getting more
and more, which is exciting. With film, statistically
there are just fewer roles available for women. I voted
for SAG one year and they give you options for eligible
candidates for leading actors and actresses; the women’s
list was half a page and the men’s was six pages.”
SHANNON: “It doesn’t make sense because if you
think of all the great novels that are out there with all
the great female protagonists, there is the content.”
ROSE: “Yeah, but they say the bulk of cinema-goers
are men aged between 18 and 35 – it’s a business.”
SHANNON: “Yes, that is a statistic, but is that
because we’re making more content for that audience?
Whereas, if we were making more films like Wild,
would the audience demographic shift? I don’t know.”
ST: “Is this something you have in mind when you are
writing, or do you just create something because you
want to tell that story?”
SHANNON: “I’m just drawn to stories I’m drawn to.”
GR ACIE: “I find it easier to write about females or
young girls because it’s what I know.”
JESSICA: “I think you’re just naturally inclined
to that. It’s things that interest us that we want to
support, characters that inspire us, telling great
stories that are unique and need to be told.”
ST: “So here’s a curly one: would any of you call yourselves feminists?”
KREW: “You know, that word has taken on so many meanings.”
SHANNON: “It’s very loaded.”
KREW: “I kind of don’t know what it means in this day and age.”
SHANNON: “If you’re looking at it in a very modern and
progressive context and not some kind of archaic idea, I would
definitely call myself a feminist – because I believe in equality
between males and females. We are still so far behind in some
countries, for women’s rights, so yes, I support equality so therefore
I call myself a feminist, if that’s what the word means.”
ROSE: “Often saying you’re a feminist means you hate men and
that’s so counterproductive.”
JESSICA: “This is not about excluding men, in fact, we want to
work with men, they’re part of anything, they’re part of success.
This is not a gender decision, it’s a decision based on productivity,
creativity, friendship, resources and just wanting to support each
other and supporting each other as friends. The gender thing
obviously comes into the equation because we are all women and
yes, there are all these inequalities, but we’re not here calling
ourselves feminists. We’re here because we want to enjoy what we
do, and this is one part of how we’re going to do it.”
SHANNON: “It’s kind of ludicrous in this day and age that we
even have to talk about it but then you turn on the TV and you
look at parliament and religious leaders or whatever, and people
in high-powered positions is so male-dominated.”
(Krew bursts into Beyoncé’s anthem Run The World (Girls) ...) ■
For more information, go to http://www.the-dollhouse.com.Valentino
kaftan, $5,090.
168 – MAY 2015
HUGH STEWART