#Actress
Let’s Not Put an Obit on Melissa McCarthy’s Career Post-’Tammy’
From my latest Forbes post on how the press is wrong about Tammy: Melissa McCarthy’s film Tammy grossed $21.5 million last weekend and it has grossed $36 million since it opened a week ago on...
Trailer Watch: Reese Witherspoon Heals Herself in “Wild”
Call 2014 Reese Witherspoon’s comeback year. The Walk the Line star will play the lead in two movies this Oscar season, The Good Lie (October 3) and Wild (December 5), and co-star in Inherent Vice...
How to Create a Record-Busting Feminist Blockbuster: The Case of Frozen
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Six Reasons to See Tammy This Weekend
Tammy, the new comedy co-written by and starring Melissa McCarthy, opens today. Sadly, the film is not getting great reviews — at the time of posting, it’s at 18% on Rotten Tomatoes. I may...
Snow White Sequel Ditches Snow White
Where a poisoned apple failed, Hollywood sexism will succeed. News arrived last week that a sequel to Snow White and the Huntsman, the 2012 action-oriented feminist revision of the fairy tale, will...
How Melissa McCarthy Became a Box-Office Powerhouse
From my latest Forbes post on Melissa McCarthy’s savvy handling of her post-Bridesmaids career: Tammy is the next step in McCarthy’s career in a variety of ways. One, it’s the first time...
Trailer Watch: Reese Witherspoon Continues Her Comeback Tour with The Good Lie
Fans of Reese Witherspoon will have plenty of chances to see her this Oscar season. She’ll be in the big-screen adaptation of Cheryl Strayed’s Wild (out December 5) and the much-anticipated...
The Four Things I Learned on My Recent Trip to Hollywood
From my latest Forbes post on the four things I learned on my recent trip to Hollywood: People are talking and looking for ways to make in roads all across the business. From what I’ve noticed,...
Kristen Wiig to Direct, Star, and Co-Write a Bridesmaids Follow-Up with Annie Mumolo
The writing team behind Bridesmaids is finally reuniting to make another female-friendship comedy. Wiig will sit in the director’s chair for the first time in the unnamed project. The former SNL...
Cate Blanchett: “People Want to See Stories With Women at the Center”
After using her Best Actress win at the Oscars as a platform to call for more movies about women (“the world is round, people”), Cate Blanchett recently spoke out again on behalf of her fellow...
Jennifer Lawrence to Team Up Again with David O. Russell
After working together on Silver Linings Playbook and American Hustle, Jennifer Lawrence and director David O. Russell will collaborate again on a film currently titled Joy. The 23-year-old actress...
In Praise of “Go Fuck Y’Self” Women: Lori Petty in Orange is the New Black
Orange is the New Black is back Friday, all 13 episodes of the second season will be miraculously available at 12:01 AM on Netflix. And what a return it is. I’ve only seen the first episode, and...
Pixar to Release Its Second Movie With a Female Protagonist Next Year
On the heels of Disney’s Frozen becoming the fifth highest-grossing film of all time comes news of Pixar’s next girl-centric movie. Inside Out, which will only be the second Pixar release with a...
Frozen Becomes the 5th Top-Grossing Movie of All Time
Thanks to the international box office, Disney’s Frozen has become the fifth highest-grossing movie of all time, as well as the single highest-grossing film with a clear female protagonist and a...
Trailer Watch: Juliette Binoche and Kristen Stewart in Clouds of Sils Maria
A tangle of jealousy, co-dependency and desire draws together Juliette Binoche, Kristen Stewart, and Chloe Grace Moretz in French director Olivier Assayas’ Palme d’Or contender Clouds of...
Emma Thompson on Her “Militant Feminist” Stand-Up Comedy Years
Emma Thompson is her usual, delightfully candid self in a new interview with Vanity Fair. Promoting The Love Punch — her new gray-haired, 99-percenters’ comedy with Pierce Brosnan, in which...
Why Shonda Rhimes’ Upcoming Fall Drama Is Already a Hit
No network was scrutinized more in this month’s Upfronts than ABC, which, for the past three seasons, has ranked dead last among the big four networks for viewers under 50. The female-skewing ABC...
Hollywood Feminist of the Day: Cate Blanchett Defends Mothers
Cate Blanchett has been on a roll calling out double standards in Hollywood. After blasting the film industry for giving movies about women the short shrift and lambasting E! for having its camera...
Trailer Watch: Helen Mirren Stars in The Hundred-Foot Journey
The trailer is out for The Hundred-Foot Journey, which stars Helen Mirren as Madame Mallory, the owner of a swanky French restaurant. Oprah Winfrey and Steven Spielberg joined forces to produce the...
Trailer Watch: Shonda Rhimes’ How To Get Away With Murder
A full trailer has arrived for How To Get Away With Murder right on the heels of ABC’s upfront presentation. Unsurprisingly, it looks very addictive — the legal thriller is co-created and...
Louis CK’s “So Did the Fat Lady” Is Not The Last — Or The First — Word On Fat Women On TV
Louis CK is getting heaped with accolades for “So Did the Fat Lady,” the third episode of his current season of Louie, which aired Monday night. I get why: it is, in its way, a progressive move...
Reese Witherspoon’s Wild Will Open December 5th
Will Wild usher in Reese Witherspoon’s own version of a “McConaissance”? A release date has been set for Wild — and that release date is very Oscar-friendly. Wild, an adaptation of...
Reading Ellen Page’s Sexuality
“I am tired of hiding and I am tired of lying by omission” film star Ellen Page said, during her much celebrated coming out speech at an HRC event in Las Vegas on Valentine’s Day. “I...
Reese Witherspoon/Sofia Vergara Unnamed Film Directed by Anne Fletcher Targets Mother’s Day 2015 Release
Reese Witherpoon and Sofia Vergara will co-star in an unnamed buddy comedy directed by Anne Fletcher (The Guilt Trip, The Proposal, 27 Dresses). New Line Cinema/Warner Brothers will co-produce...
Leslie Mann Becomes a Movie Star: The Supporting Actress is A Leading Lady in Las Madres
Leslie Mann is finally being given the chance to lead a movie. The talented and funny actress won’t be “The Wife” or “The Friend” in Las Madres, a new comedy from...
Guest Post: “No One Would Ever Say That to Larry David”: Female Showrunners and the Hypocritical Critical Edge
It’s tough out there for female showrunners. Women and Hollywood has been documentingthis for years, and it remains true that the women working in these roles — incomedy and drama, on...
Patty Jenkins Signs On For Second Film — Sweetheart
It’s been over a decade since Patty Jenkins directed Charlize Theron to her Oscar for Monster. We all know that Theron has worked on numerous films since then, but Jenkins, who wrote and directed...
TV: Series Pick-Ups for Katherine Heigl, Alfre Woodard, Octavia Spencer, Gabourey Sidibe
With the fall television season just four months away, here are some of the new women-starring network shows that have been confirmed to air: — Red Band Society (Fox). After the Murder, She Wrote...
Trailer Watch: Melissa McCarthy Is a Fugitive From Justice in Tammy
Melissa McCarthy’s much anticipated summer comedy Tammy will focus on a broke woman who discovers that her husband is cheating on her. She then embarks on an eventful and ill-fated road trip to...
Amy Schumer and the Women of Broad City: Paving the Way for a Female “Golden Age”
Recently, a lot has been made of the so-called Golden Age of Television and the question of is it or isn’t it one. I tend to nod off during those kinds of articles because they so often turn into...
Charlize Theron Options Mental Illness Memoir for Dakota Fanning
Charlize Theron has never been shy about criticizing the film industry’s relative lack of interesting roles for women. Back in 2008, she told The Guardian, “People just aren’t willing to see...
Tina Fey and Amy Poehler’s The Nest Gets 2015 Release Date
Tina Fey and Amy Poehler’s next collaboration, the sister comedy The Nest, will open December 18, 2015. The former SNL co-stars will star as two thirtysomething siblings who return home for one...
Meryl Streep Receives Monte Cristo Award from Eugene O’Neill Center
Last night, the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center honored Meryl Streep with the Monte Cristo Award, one of the most prestigious acting awards in the country. The ceremony was a homecoming for Streep,...
Quote of the Day: Emma Thompson on Fighting for Female Roles and Women’s Rights
Emma Thompson rarely misses an opportunity to speak out on behalf of women in the film industry, and a recent appearance on the BBC Radio 4’s Front Row to promote her new comedy with Pierce...
Lego Movie Sequel Director Regretful Original Film Fails Bechdel Test, Wants to Do Better
Although I enjoyed The Lego Movie immensely (it’s clever and funny and visually stunning), I wasn’t really looking forward to the inevitable sequel — until now. Lego Movie 2 director...
Cate Blanchett, Susanne Bier Team Up for The Dig
Remember when Cate Blanchett argued for more movies about women? As Blanchett is probably aware, one of the most reliable routes to starring in a film about woman is working with female directors...
Tina Fey and Amy Poehler to Play Sisters in New Film
After killing it two years in a row hosting the Golden Globes, Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, our favorite comedy duo, will reunite on the big screen in The Nest. The former SNL co-stars will star as...
Director Liza Johnson on Exploring Kristen Wiig’s Dramatic Side in Hateship Loveship
After receiving rave notices for her feature debut Return, director Liza Johnson has followed up with a second film about an outsider protagonist desperately wanting in. Return starred Linda...
Female Film Industry Heavyweights Support Fledgling Female Directors
Jane Campion, Helen Mirren, and Sienna Miller are among the participants of a wonderful new initiative to highlight the next generation of female filmmakers. The London-based fashion and culture...
Cate Blanchett, Kerry Washington, Rose Byrne Honored by Women in Film
Cate Blanchett, Kerry Washington, Rose Byrne, Eva Longoria, and Frozen director Jennifer Lee are the five honorees of this year’s Crystal + Lucy Awards. Organized by Women in Film — Los...
April 2014 Film Preview
The Big Dipper isn’t the only constellation of stars you’ll see this April — there’s a handful of actress-led vehicles on offer this coming month. By far the biggest is The Other Woman,...
Frozen Now the Highest-Grossing Animated Film in History
With over a $1 billion in ticket sales internationally, Frozen is no longer just the highest-grossing animated film in Disney history, but the highest-grossing animated film ever. Jennifer Lee and...
Women and Hollywood Summer 2014 Preview
Mark Wahlberg gave us all something to laugh about when he declared the Transformers movies to be “the most iconic franchise in movie history” at this year’s Cinema Con, the annual convention...
Meryl Streep to Star in Jonathan Demme Film Written by Diablo Cody
Without a word to anyone, Meryl Streep has begun a one-woman revolution in Hollywood. The 18-time Oscar nominee (and three-time winner) has steadily and tenaciously pursued projects by female...
Frozen Estimated to Become Highest-Grossing Movie in Disney History
Who knew that the best holiday gift Disney could give itself was turning its back on its past? Last November’s Frozen flipped the script on the passive-princess protagonists and...
Reese Witherspoon Bets on Kimberly McCreight as Next YA Sensation
Can’t decide on next month’s book club selection? Let Reese Witherspoon help. For nearly a decade, Witherspoon has been producing adaptations of novels with complicated female protagonists...
Trailer Watch: Kristen Wiig in Hateship Loveship
Kristen Wiig helped launch the female buddy comedy with Bridesmaids, but the former SNL star has been skewing toward dramatic roles since her breakout hit. Wiig has already received great notices...
Trailer Watch: Nicole Kidman as Grace of Monaco
If there’s one thing Game of Thrones has taught us, it’s that being a princess really, really sucks. Grace of Monaco makes the same point with a drama set in an era closer to our own time. The...
Lena Dunham’s Feminist Week: From SNL to SXSW
Girls’ fictional protagonist Hannah Horvath proclaimed she was “the voice of my generation” in a fit of self-delusion and opium tea, but her creator Lena Dunham is proving she has a lot of...
Suck It, Haters: Female-Led Films Make More Money
“Sorry, Cate Blanchett: ‘Films with women at the center’ don’t make money,” proclaims an embarrassing editorial by Marcus James Dixon at the Gold Derby today. Dixon was referring, of...
The World is Round, People and Other Thoughts from a Potentially Game Changing Oscars
I don’t know about you, but things felt a bit different last night. In fact, let’s be honest, they’ve felt different for some time now. It’s not just one thing. It’s Tina and Amy at the...