Oscar-winning actress Anne Hathaway recently revealed that she is worried she may have treated female directors with ‘internalised misogyny’. Appearing on ABC‘s Popcorn With Peter Travers, the actress was asked about a particular film experience where she learned a lot. She spoke about 2011’s One Day, the one with Jim Sturgess, directed by Danish filmmaker Lone Scherfig,
“I really regret not trusting her more easily. And I am to this day scared that the reason I didn’t trust her the way I trust some of the other directors I work with is because she’s a woman. It’s so hard to admit. And I hope people understand that it’s hard to admit,” she said.
She further revealed “how misogyny gets so ingrained” that she ended up restraining her female director and noting down the flaws in her films, as opposed to giving her a proper chance, like she would’ve with a male director.
“When I get a script, when I see a first film directed by a woman, I have in the past focused on what was wrong with it. And when I see a film . . . directed by a man, I focus on what’s right with it . . . I can only acknowledge that I’ve done that and I don’t want to do that anymore,” she confessed.
Recommended
While the film got mixed responses, in an interview with Toronto Sun back in 2011, Hathway revealed that she was desperate to get the part in the film. After being clandestinely given the script as the film was set in the United Kingdom and Scherfig wasn’t looking for any American actresses, Hathaway flew to London for a meeting with the director to explain why she should get the part. Hathaway later said it was “the worst meeting of my life… I was just inarticulate”, but on leaving, Hathaway wrote out a list of songs for Scherfig to listen to, saying, “I clearly didn’t communicate to you what I needed to today. But I think these songs can do it for me.” Scherfig did listen to them, which led to Hathaway getting the part.
Meanwhile, Hathaway admitted that while she never apologised to her director, she would reach out to her after the interview.
Pic: The Hollywood Reporter