In a recent interview with Time Out Carey Mulligan didn't hold back on the issue of sexism in Hollywood. "There's a lack of material for women. A lack of great stories for women," she stated. And went even further, identifying the reason for this as the fact that the film industry is "obviously massively sexist."
It might seem obvious — clearly it makes sense that gender inequality onscreen is a direct result of sexism offscreen — but many actors still skirt around the issue so hats off to Mulligan for being bold enough to go there.
The Oscar-winning actress slammed her industry for not telling the story of her upcoming film Suffragette until now. "The mere fact that it's taken 100 years for this story to be told is hugely revealing," she said. “This is the story of equal rights in Britain, and it took years of struggle and women being tortured, abused and persecuted, and it's never been put onscreen. It's such a reflection of our film industry that that story hasn't been told yet."
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Mulligan is on a bit of a roll with this whole issue, which we couldn't be happier about. In an interview with Women and Hollywood she asked, "When will [the film industry] catch up with the fact that [women-centric] films do well?"
"It's just like what Cate Blanchett said at the Oscars," she continued. "The hunger for female-driven stories is there. You just have to make the films. This shock over how these films do so well is a bit tired now. Jennifer Lawrence can open movies like any male star."
One actress who's had a huge hand in highlighting inequality in Hollywood is Geena Davis. The Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media, which describes itself as being "the only research-based organisation working within the media and entertainment industry to engage, educate and influence the need to dramatically improve gender balance, reduce stereotyping and create diverse female characters in entertainment targeting children 11 and under," is launching the Bentonville Film Festival in May, which is open to films with a female or minority lead, director, writer or production company.
"We've had so many movies starring women, directed by women, about women that have been huge successes, and yet we haven't seemed to get any momentum going," Davis told Film Journal International. "But we're hoping this initiative is going to get it going."
Rose Byrne recently announced that she's working with four other women in the film industry (including Gracie Otto, actress and director of The Last Impresario) to create an all-female production company called “The Dollhouse Collective," with the aim of developing theatre, film and television projects that "tell stories with a strong female presence."
The road to gender equality in Hollywood may be a rocky one but at least we have women like Mulligan, Davis and Byrne working to make change happen.
More on sexism in Hollywood
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Hilarious new video shares the truth about Hollywood discrimination (VIDEO)
Let's talk the F-word and why empowering women in Hollywood matters