When Ocean’s 8 began filming in October 2016 — with eight actresses reviving the testosterone-zested heist franchise that last winked at audiences in 2007 — Hillary Clinton was ahead in the polls, Harvey Weinstein was synonymous with Hollywood power, and few in the industry, let alone the public, had ever heard of the term “inclusion rider.”
The movie will be released on June 21 in the UAE in a dramatically different world. Tectonic shifts set off by the #MeToo and Time’s Up movements have thrust long overlooked perils for working women into sharp relief. And the film’s implicit argument — that the particular experiences of women have for too long been an afterthought — seems suddenly prescient.
On set, the stars deliberately cultivated an idealised simulacrum of the broader industry — female-led, open, nonhierarchical, mutually supportive. “We were all in the trailers sitting right next to each other — sharing, downloading, collaborating,” Sandra Bullock, who led a cast that included Cate Blanchett, Rihanna, Mindy Kaling and Anne Hathaway, said in a recent interview. “Everyone became a surrogate parent/best friend/therapist.”
Bullock, who was in Los Angeles, was joined by Kaling from New York in a three-way phone conversation and subsequent emails. Topics included double standards for men and women in Hollywood, Kaling’s secret on-set pregnancy, and the endurance of their all-star sisterhood, complete with lively group texting.
“It’s very active,” Kaling said of the group chat. “Some days you’ll leave your phone and you come back and there’s 23 missed texts — mostly the rest of us teasing Sarah Paulson.” These are edited excerpts from the conversation.
Did you know each other before shooting?
SANDRA BULLOCK: I’d never met Mindy. I knew who she was. I first discovered her on The Office.
MINDY KALING: Like every other person in the world, I kind of believed that I was friends with Sandra Bullock. I’ve always wanted to write something for her. So to get to act with her was a very, very close second.
I’m picturing a buddy comedy with the two of you co-headlining. BULLOCK: (laughs) I feel like we have similar voices. Similar comedic and dramatic timing. With Mindy, there’s also such a deep-rooted sincerity. Her voice is just so truthful and unabashedly real.
KALING: Thank you. That’s such an amazing thing to say.
BULLOCK: It’s true. Anyone who is honest about their shortcomings, it just makes me admire them more, and it makes me feel OK about being the human being that I am.
KALING: Which is why I’m taking this time to announce the movie that we’re doing together called “Inspirational Best Friends.” (Laughter)
Did you get to share many personal moments?
KALING: I remember we went to dinner once when I was two weeks pregnant and I couldn’t tell anybody.
BULLOCK: You said you were on heavy antibiotics. (Laughs)
KALING: I’m so superstitious!
BULLOCK: It’s not superstitious! You just don’t mention it until you’re the first trimester in. Paulson and I kept trying to get you to order a cocktail, and you’re like, “I’m on strict antibiotics.” And we’re like “What kind of antibiotic is that?” (Laughs)
KALING: Then I said they were antipsychotics. (Laughter) I had to spin a web of lies. I just wish I had been able to actually drink.
BULLOCK: I could be wrong, but on the first Ocean’s (starring George Clooney, Brad Pitt and Matt Damon) hardly anyone was married, there was a bar on set, it was in Vegas, they planned outings. On our film, everyone was juggling one to two kids, dual careers — eight people’s full schedules. We didn’t even get to go to dinner until almost the entire thing was over. Those moments when we were able to get to know each other as people happened late night on the set, sharing information. I realised there were so many questions I had and didn’t know who to ask in the journey of my career. And here I sat in a room with seven other women who might have those answers. We all threw everything into the pot, and by the time we left, I felt like we had gone through college together.
What did you want to know?
BULLOCK: About the business. You just go, “How did you navigate it when you were making your deals? What do you know to ask for? What do you not ask for? Do you have people who help you? How much of it is you? How much of it is your agents and managers?” I call it “actress solitary confinement.” I’ve been in this business for a while, but I still felt like such a freshman.
Do you think that kind of secrecy is a problem for the industry as a whole? Or in what ways is it more difficult for women?
KALING: I feel like there is pressure for an actress to always be polished and beautiful. So you cannot share anything about what it took to get there because it’s supposed to be effortless. I didn’t know any of these actresses going into this movie other than what I’d read about them in magazines, so it was nice, when it was the seventh hour of a 12-hour scene, to be able to look over to someone and go, “What doctor do I go to? What was your business experience with this person? What are the logistics of having kids when you’re a single mum?”
Had you ever experienced anything like that? You’ve both been in films with large numbers of women in the cast before.
KALING: I actually don’t remember what it’s like to act with a man. Between this movie and A Wrinkle in Time, I don’t think I’ve acted with a man in two years.
BULLOCK: For me, this time (the difference was) I’d experienced enough in life that a lot of the artifice and baggage that I’d had had sort of been dropped or taken from me or exposed. Everything I do now, it’s like, “Is this worth it for the family?” This movie was supposed to be shot in the summer so I didn’t have to take my kids out of school.
That’s my prerequisite now. Mindy, you’re going to learn that: Everything revolves around what’s best for the kids. But something came up with Cate’s schedule where we had to shift (filming) into the school year, and I was like, “I can’t do this.” But you pick up the family, you find a great school, and you go “Oh, adventure!” Being in this group of women, it’s not about having to prove something. I wanted to make connections, maybe get a couple of good lines in the process. You don’t know that you’re going to get many more chances, so each opportunity you just want to be there 100 per cent.
I read that the eight of you shared a trailer on set. Why?
BULLOCK: (Laughs) We actually had two trailers and everyone was packed in like sardines with their chairs next to each other. For me, it was really important that you have time to connect before you hit the ground running. (The trailers were) where we were all one team. If a scene doesn’t feel right, how do we fix it? To me it felt like a big think tank. Mindy, I don’t know what it felt like for you.
KALING: For me, the chattiest I am and the best that I am is like 15 minutes after I first wake up, so just to see everyone the way they are first thing in the morning was such a nice bonding experience.
The movie finds an interesting way in to some of the gender politics you were mentioning. Many of the characters have been underestimated in their careers, and they use that to their advantage when they turn to crime. Are there still times when either of you feels underestimated professionally?
KALING: The feeling of being underestimated has completely fuelled my career. At this point I find it motivating.
BULLOCK: I underestimate myself constantly, constantly — whether it’s in my own mind or whether it actually exists. I don’t take the business side personally, but I take my work personally because that’s a year of your life. And when I see inequality, when I see condescension, when I see people who are prominently displayed on a card for a job they are not fit for, I have a visceral reaction now that I’ve never had before.
It feels like we’re starting to see things shift, if only incrementally, towards a world where movies like ‘Ocean’s 8’ aren’t just considered women’s movies but are seen as potential blockbusters for all audiences. Are you feeling that shift in your own careers?
KALING: I’ve always created my own roles, so I haven’t had to face the excruciating lameness of most female roles in film and TV. Getting offered this (movie) was unusual for me. So yes, I do think there is a shift. B
ULLOCK: I don’t know. I don’t wish for things I don’t have. So maybe there are things that are not coming to me, but I’m not wishing for them.
You’re not thinking about what the next few movies might be?
BULLOCK: Nope. Not at all. Because I have my family — that’s what I think about 24/7. If an opportunity comes along that’s good for the family, I’ll consider it. And that’s probably why I’ll be working less and less.
Don’t miss it!
‘Ocean’s 8’ is out in the UAE on June 21.
