Why Greta Gerwig Regrets Working With Woody Allen
Greta Gerwig was interviewed after the Golden Globes win, and she revealed regret working with Woody Allen in the past. See what she had to say.
By nowproducerdave on January 11, 2018
Sacramento-filmed movie “Lady Bird” is fresh off of its Golden Globe win for “Best Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy.” Directly after the win, “Lady Bird” director and Sacramento native Greta Gerwig was interviewed by the New York Times about her win, and about a “turning point” in Hollywood for women. The interview is a bit long, but there’s one point in the chat where she was asked about Woody Allen, and she had a lot to say about it, but used few words, if that makes sense.
To summarize, she spoke about all of the recent cases of sexual harassment coming to light, and also talked about the number of female directed and character-driven movies that have been coming out (Like “Wonder Woman” and director Patty Jenkins), and how we’re in the start of a turning point for women in Hollywood, and women in general. Greta also commented on how she doesn’t think men and women as directors or writers necessarily have different points of views about how to create a character any more than one individual to the next. Aaron Sorkin, director of “Molly’s Game” was also part of the interview, and he mentioned “we shouldn’t be lured into thinking that all women think the same way and all men think the same way. I think there’s as much difference between, say, Greta and Patty Jenkins as there is between Greta and me.” That’s a very valid and powerful point.
Now the big question. The interviewer for the Times asked about the specific men involved with the sexual misconduct allegations and accusations. As an example, he asked “Will Kevin Spacey work again?” He also added “Should we care about, reward or punish what artists do beyond the parameters of their art?,” which sort of alludes to an opinion of “just because they did bad things, does that make their skills on or off the screen irrelevant?” This is where Greta spoke about Woody Allen, and the specifics of the allegations against him. She said, to quote,
“I worked for him on a film that came out in 2012. It is something that I take very seriously and have been thinking deeply about, and it has taken me time to gather my thoughts and say what I mean to say. I can only speak for myself and what I’ve come to is this: If I had known then what I know now, I would not have acted in the film. I have not worked for him again, and I will not work for him again.”
She also cited a couple pieces written by Dylan Farrow, Woody’s adopted daughter, who explained what she went through at age 7 after being sexually abused by Woody. Greta says that by supporting Woody by working with him in his films, she sort of “increased another woman’s pain,” and then added that she “was heartbroken by that realization.”
If you’d like to see the full interview, you can read the transcript here. It’s a great look into just how the world of Hollywood is changing and slowly becoming a more even split between male and female, in the sense of “creators” rather than “male or female.”
