Finally, some good news about the Supreme Court. The long-gestating Ruth Bader Ginsburg biopic starring Natalie Portman has found its director — a woman director, per the actress’s insistence. The Tracking Board confirms Mimi Leder is set to direct “On the Basis of Sex.”
From a script penned by Daniel Stiepelman, Ginsburg’s nephew, the film will trace Ginsburg’s struggle “to overcome numerous obstacles while fighting for equal rights,” the source details. Ginsburg eventually became the first Jewish female justice on the Supreme Court. Stiepelman’s script made the Hit List, the Black List, and the first ever Athena List in 2014.
The Tracking Board emphasizes how Leder, like Ginsburg herself, blazed many trails for women throughout her career. The Leder-helmed “Deep Impact” (1998) “was the highest-grossing film ever directed by a woman at the time.” The source cites Leder’s historic acceptance into AFI’s cinematography course (she was the first woman ever admitted) as just one of the ways she “helped pave the way for many female directors.”
Speaking to Women and Hollywood about the film, Leder emphasized how important it is to tell Ginsburg’s story now. “This film will capture that moment in America — an America which has and has not changed,” she said. “Ruth fought to change laws for all of history and isn’t giving up the fight. She is a global hero. A role model. A beacon!”
Previously, Leder has opened up about her frustrations as a woman director in Hollywood. “[I]t’s mostly males hiring,” she commented to the New York Times. “And they mostly hire males. That may sound controversial, but I can’t figure it out. Why aren’t there more talented women directing features? Why are women clawing to be directors when there are male directors who have made two or three $200 million failures and get to make another one? That doesn’t happen with women. Never.”
Booking a woman to help tell Ginsburg’s story was very important to Portman, as the Supreme Court Justice herself has said. “Natalie Portman came to talk to me about this, and we had a very good conversation,” Ginsburg said when Marielle Heller (“The Diary of a Teenage Girl”) was originally attached to the project. “And one thing, interesting, that she insisted on, it held up the project for awhile. She said, ‘I want the director to be a woman. There are not enough women in this industry.’”
Continuing this conversation with Marie Claire UK, Portman said, “I don’t think women and men are more or less capable [as directors], we just have a clear issue with women not having opportunities.” “We need to be part of the solution, not perpetuating the problem,” she added.
With the news of Leder’s involvement, it’s clear Portman isn’t a fair weather feminist. A female director for “On the Basis of Sex” was important to her and Portman made it happen.
Portman has recently been vocal about gender inequality in show business. She also spoke to Marie Claire UK about the outrageous pay discrepancy between her and co-star Ashton Kutcher on “No Strings Attached.” “I knew and I went along with it because there’s this thing with ‘quotes’ in Hollywood,” Portman recalled. “His [quote] was three times higher than mine, so they said he should get three times more. I wasn’t as pissed as I should have been. I mean, we get paid a lot, so it’s hard to complain, but the disparity is crazy. Compared to men, in most professions, women make 80 cents to the dollar. In Hollywood, we are making 30 cents to the dollar.”
That infuriating injustice makes Ginsburg’s struggle to overcome sexism even more prescient, doesn’t it? We agree with Leder: This movie needs to happen now.
Portman recently made her directorial debut with “A Tale of Love and Darkness,” in which she also starred. She is currently up for the Best Actress Oscar for her portrayal of Jackie Kennedy in “Jackie.” The actress’s recent credits include “Jane Got a Gun” and “Planetarium.” Portman will also appear in the upcoming “Annihilation” and “Song to Song.”
Leder is an award-winning director and producer whose television credits include “The Leftovers,” “Shameless,” “ER,” and more. Leder also directed features like “The Peacemaker” and “Pay It Forward.”
