Movies December 11, 2019
Charlize Theron & Margot Robbie Talk ‘Bombshell’ and Sexual Harassment
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“Extra's” Jenn Lahmers sat down with Charlize Theron and Margot Robbie ahead of “Bombshell's” opening on Friday.
The film centers on sexual harassment claims against the late CEO of Fox News, Roger Ailes. He denied the accusations, and resigned in 2016. He died in 2017.
Charlize, who plays journalist Megyn Kelly, told Jenn, “She's complicated… and I'm grateful that I got to explore somebody as complicated as she is.” Theron also revealed, “I think once I could get past my own personal issues… it became a little easier for me.” Explaining, “We're not very like-minded on a lot of things… She has made some comments in the past that have been kind of unsettling and upsetting for me to hear.”
Margot plays a fictional journalist named Kayla. In one stand-out scene, her character has an inappropriate exchange with Ailes in his office. Jenn asked, “Does that come from a familiar place to you?” Margot answered, “It wasn't a great stretch of the imagination to put yourself in Kayla's shoes.” She went on to say, “When we were filming that scene… I, myself, was standing in a room with multiple other people knowing that I was in a very safe environment… and yet I'm lifting my skirt up. It's uncomfortable, and it's a strange thing to do.”
Jenn commented, “Unfortunately, there's a saying… You haven't been in this business long enough until you experience something like that yourself.”
Charlize weighed in, “Sexual harassment is being talked about in a more nuanced way and it's becoming clear to us that there is quite a spectrum of sexual harassment… Now that we are opening up that conversation, it would be hard to find a woman over 40 who has not experienced something on that spectrum to some degree.”
She continued, “Margot said it, too — we can all hear stories, or see something like this film and pull some memory of some point in our lives that can remind us of that feeling, what it feels like to be in a space where you are not treated equally, where you feel like your job is on the line, where you feel like there is something more asked of you than should be.”
Margot shared, “A guy came up to me after seeing the film and said that's the closest I've come to understanding what it feels to be sexually harassed… I hope that as many guys see it as possible.”
