Heather Graham: ‘Nothing Has Changed Drastically’ with Sexism in Hollywood
Heather Graham is reflecting on how Hollywood has changed — or hasn’t — since she began her career in the 1980s.
The “Boogie Nights” actress recognized that sexism is now openly addressed in the industry, but “nothing has changed drastically” enough when it comes to getting female-led stories greenlit.
“No one really thought about it or commented on it. At that point, people thought they were being really evolved and now we look back and go, ‘Whoa, that was so sexist.’ I’m glad that we are growing as a culture,” Graham told People magazine, adding that “some of the movies from that time period, they were so sexist.”
The “Bowfinger” star continued, “I feel like nothing has changed drastically. More people care, but it’s not suddenly equal. It’s still pretty sexist, to be honest. Every phase of the business, whether it’s financing, distribution, the reviewers, all those people are mostly men. To get a female driven story that is appealing mostly to women through all these levels of male-dominated business, it’s not that easy.”
Graham is set to produce TV series “Hypnotist’s Love Story,” as well as direct and star in “Chosen Family” from a script she wrote.
“I always felt like I was a supporting character in a man’s story. I wasn’t always going, what do I want? I was going, how do I people please someone else?” Graham said. “My journey has been to get more clear on what I want and go after that.”
She continued, “The most inspiring thing to me is to see a lot of female writers, directors, and that’s something that I’m starting to do. I like cool, groovy female directors that are telling humorous stories about female points of view. I’d like to be in those more…I really like hearing female voices because I think we learn a lot about the world from the movies and TV that we watch. If we’re always being told stories from just a male point of view, that doesn’t help women.”
Emily Ratajkowski recently announced that she was stepping away from acting after feeling like a “piece of meat” onscreen and realizing that her Hollywood team “all hate women.”
“Maybe that’s why right now I’m not really interested in men’s POVs,” Ratajkowski told The Los Angeles Times. “This is a fucked up world. Like, Hollywood is fucked up. And it’s dark.”