Maria Shrader’s new Universal drama She Said is based on the book of the same name by New York Times reporters Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey, whose 2017 report about Harvey Weinstein opened the floodgates for the #MeToo movement. But you won’t see Weinstein’s face in the movie.
“It was clear that we would tell the story primarily from the perspective of the reporters. They had no connection to Hollywood in the beginning, and their encounters — either via telephone or with his unexpected visit at the New York Times — was the contact they had with Harvey Weinstein. And we stick to that reality,” Schrader told MovieMaker.
“We didn’t take much effort to explain all the specifics about Harvey Weinstein. It’s clearly not his movie.”
Instead, she explained, having Weinstein’s back turned during the movie — or showing him only through his disembodied voice on the other end of the phone line — makes him “basically a placeholder for all the countless powerful men abusing their positions around the world, and not only in the entertainment industry.”
The film follows Kantor (Zoe Kazan) and Twohey (Carey Mulligan) as they interview women about their experiences working with Harvey Weinstein, several of whom ultimately decided to go on the record with allegations that he sexually assaulted them. Since the events of the film, Weinstein was convicted of third-degree rape and a criminal sexual act in the first degree. He is currently serving a 23-year prison sentence. He denies the allegations against him.
Also Read: She Said Writer Rebecca Lenkiewicz: Connecting With Weinstein Survivors Was ‘Rather Beautiful’
When Schrader first read Kantor and Twohey’s 2017 report about Weinstein, it opened the floodgates for her to re-examine her own experiences in the entertainment industry.
“I got involved in a lot of conversations about it, not only with colleagues and not only at the workplace, but also with friends. And on a more personal level, I also revisited my own experiences working in this business since I was 16,” Schrader said.
The German actress directed Netflix’s popular Unorthodox series and has also starred in Deutschland 83, Aimee & Jaguar, and many more films and TV series.
The Times story prompted Schrader to look back “at things which I might have tried to forget or succeeded to forget, and reframe that and becoming aware of how much I was part of that system by trying to not be affected by anything,” she said. “So many experiences we all had. Daily sexism. Other incidents. I thought, ‘I’ll be strong.’ I don’t let myself be affected by it, or [I] meet it with humor, or just forget it — make my way without addressing any of it. So this was a big change for me and a big rethinking.”
Directing She Said offered her an opportunity to tell a story with two women at the helm who actually get a happy ending.
“We haven’t seen two female journalists being the protagonists of a movie like that and succeeding, you know?” she said. “When I think of the great movies with two equally strong female characters, the first movie which comes into my mind is Thelma and Louise, and they had to die at the end.”
She Said is now playing in theaters.
Main Image: (L-R) Director Maria Schrader, Carey Mulligan and Zoe Kazan on the set of She Said courtesy of Universal.
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