Director of female-led political thriller Miss Sloane, opening in theatres on December 15, thinks it’s about time women get more opportunities in Hollywood.
John Madden, best known for directing the Oscar-winning film Shakespeare in Love, said great strides have been made with representation of women onscreen this year.
“There should be plenty of women making those films, too.
“It’s about time the balance was redressed. It’s still quite extraordinary if you count up the number of female directors, for example, who have never been truly recognised by the industry. But that’s changing,” he told Gulf News tabloid!.
Madden cast Jessica Chastain in the titular role of Elizabeth Madden, an Oliva Pope-esque workaholic lobbyist who will go to any means necessary to come out on top. The frenetic film opened the 13th Dubai International Film Festival on December 7 and will release across cinemas next weekend.
Madden said he sent the script to Chastain five minutes after reading it.
“She’s an extraordinary actress, one of the handful that has the skills and luminousity to hold the centre of the screen like that,” he said.
Due to its subject matter — a politically-charged back-and-forth on the merits of the second amendment to the American constitution, which declares the right to bear arms — the film is dense, information-heavy and filled to the brim with quick-paced dialogue.
Madden called upon Chastain’s dexterity with verbal material to pull it off.
“She has more dialogue than most actresses would have in five movies, let alone one,” he said.
The film thankfully lacks a love interest, but actor Jake Lacy plays Ford, a male escort who is hired by Sloane to provide a quick-fix illusion of intimacy. Their relationship is merely transactional and doesn’t shift the focus of the film.
“We really do follow this character, Miss Sloane, through her world, on her terms. That is the defining element of this film and this story. It’s not cluttered with Hollywood tropes. It’s allowed to stand on its own, and I love it,” said Lacy.
