“I’ve got a reputation for being difficult,” says Lynne Ramsay in a new interview with The Guardian, “and yet with my crew and my cast, I’m super-collaborative and we get on really well, and they like working with me. So to me that always feels like bullshit.” The award-winning writer-director speaks candidly about leading on set and the role sexism has played in her unearned reputation in the feature.
“You’re doing a tough job, where you’re the captain of the ship, and there’s always tough decisions to make, and sometimes you’ve just got to go, ‘That’s not right for this,’” the “You Were Never Really Here” filmmaker explains. “You’ve got to stick up for what you believe in. If you don’t do that, you’re doing a disservice to the audience, because you’re making something really diluted. And if you do that when you’re a guy, you’re seen as artistic — ‘difficulty’ is seen as a sign of genius. But it’s not the same for women.”
Rather than being recognized as visionary auteurs, women directors who refuse to be bulldozed are perceived as unreasonable. What’s celebrated — or at least begrudgingly respected — in male helmers is denounced in women when they fight for the sake of their project’s integrity.
“It’s a tough industry, and if you’re a woman it’s harder, whether you like it or not,” the “Ratcatcher” director summarizes.
Ramsay explains that in Glasgow, where she grew up, “people appreciate it when you’re very direct. I think that helps cut through a lot of bullshit with filming,” she says. “Straight talking and going on your instincts was important when I grew up. And being funny. It was quite a macho world I grew up in, but it was always cheeky and funny, and the women were the ones in the background that were really in control.”
While she excels in clear and direct communication, Ramsay admits that she struggles “when things are hidden, and people don’t say what they mean.” She elaborates, “When you’re less trusted than you should be, and you feel like by now I should have proven myself. I don’t think it’s just me. Don’t get me wrong, I feel really privileged to have this job. I feel like a very capable, strong director. They don’t ask me to do ‘Batman,’ but I could do it.”
From the sounds of it, Ramsay embraces her role as a leader unapologetically. Some people — who are most likely male execs — don’t like that, and label her as difficult when she refuses to simply acquiesce.
It’s worth considering how this unfair, sexist reputation has adversely affected Ramsay’s career trajectory. With whispers about being “difficult” following her around, how many opportunities has she lost out on? It seems likely that she’s been nixed from consideration for projects on the basis of this rumor.
Ramsay’s latest film, Joaquin Phoenix-starrer “You Were Never Really Here,” was named Best Screenplay at Cannes 2017. The drama about a vet and former FBI agent who tracks down missing girls hits theaters April 6.
