‘Women Talking’ cast tell Oscar voters, ‘We’re realizing how deep-rooted those problems are’ [WATCH]
“Basically women are much better,” said “Women Talking” actor Ben Whishaw about the unique experience of being the lone male actor in a predominantly female cast. He discussed the film during an “Academy Conversation” Q&A with Oscar voters moderated by Stacey Wilson Hunt and also featuring writer-director Sarah Polley, producer Dede Gardner, actors Rooney Mara and Claire Foy, and composer Hildur Guðnadóttir. Watch above.
“Women Talking” tells the story of a group of Mennonite women who have been systematically assaulted by the men of their community and must decide on their next course of action: do they stay in the colony and do nothing about the abuse, stay in the colony and fight the perpetrators, or leave the colony altogether? “I think Ona has been an outsider in this community,” says Mara about her character, who is among the women charged with making the crucial decision. She’s a bit of an iconoclast in the colony, “living her life in her own way,” but she has “a lot of empathy and sensitivity … and I think she is really hopeful.”
“I think freedom, the freedom of women, and the freedom of any group of people that have been oppressed is something that I feel like is very much coming to a head now and we’re realizing how deep-rooted those problems are,” adds Foy, whose character Salome is understandably consumed with rage. “And I just always want to caution against imagining that that’s going to be a simple path … The knowledge of something doesn’t necessarily mean it’s healed.”
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