Entertainment
Helena Bonham Carter insists female stars still ‘get the brunt’ of an ‘ageist’ Hollywood-Ruth Lawes-Entertainment – Metro
Helena did, however, say it was ‘getting better.’
Helena Bonham Carter did say the industry was improving (Picture: PA)
Helena Bonham Carter has opened up about the shifting landscape in the movie biz after the Me Too movement.
The 56-year-old appears on Friday’s The Graham Norton Show, during which she discusses her upcoming ITVX drama, Nolly.
The Fight Club actor stars as the late Crossroads actor Noele Gordon, known as Nolly, who played motel owner Meg Richardson in the long-running soap.
Perched on the famous red sofa, alongside fellow stars Brendan Fraser, Michelle Williams, Russell T Davies, Oti Mabuse and Cat Burns, Helena describes the series as feminist.
She explains: ‘The person who would love it the most is Noele Gordon. She was a wonderful woman.
‘I wasn’t exactly conscious of who she was but when I read the script it was a gift, a love letter to her and to any actor. It was beautiful and hilarious. She had guts and was so gallant and told things exactly how they were.
Helena Bonham Carter said there were more women making decisions but ageism still ran rife (Picture: BBC)
Helena Bonham Carter joined the likes of Brendan Fraser and Michelle Williams ont he show (Picture: BBC)
‘The show is Me Too’ without the sex because she took on the bullies. Everyone needs a Nolly in their lives.’
Asked if she thinks the industry has got better in terms of men calling the shots, Helena replied: ‘It’s getting better. We’ve lots of women producers and more women making the decisions, but I think it is still ageist and women get the brunt of that.’
The King’s Speech actor has spoken about gender inequality and sex discrimination before, at the premiere of the movie Suffragette.
Helena Bonham Carter stars as Nolly in the much-anticipated ITVX drama (Picture: Ben Blackall)
‘It’s completely absurd that because we have boobs we’re not treated the same as someone with a penis,’ Helena told Sky News, though admitted that during her upbringing and education she never felt ‘limited by her sex.’
Nolly, which consists of three episodes, will explore the Queen of the Midlands rise to fame and her fall from grace after being axed from the show, which ran from 1964 to 1983, with no warning.
Helena has previously said how ‘thrilled’ she was to be taking on the part of the iconic star, who died of stomach cancer in 1985.
She said in a statement announcing the series: ‘Noele Gordon was a fascinating, complex, brilliant and gutsy woman – none of which I knew before I read Russell T Davies’ script.
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‘I’m so thrilled to help tell Nolly’s long overdue and largely forgotten story. Russell’s screenplay is a work of brilliance and I hope I’ll do him and Nolly justice. I can’t wait to start.’
The Graham Norton Show airs tonight on BBC One and iPlayer at 10.40pm.
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