I do want to work on a larger scale with bigger budgets partially as a way to prove that women can do that, for sure. I definitely feel a bit of a responsibility to do that.
Elizabeth BanksI think it's important to present role models for young women coming up. I really do believe you can't be what you can't see, and representation matters. So, for me, it's the idea of putting women in media in ways that present them as having power, being heard, being true to themselves, and done from the perspective of women.
Elizabeth BanksI have a production company because this is the only job I know and this is the only career I have and the only industry I've ever worked in and the only contacts I have. It's like why wouldn't I produce?
Elizabeth BanksI'm really interested in making movies that people see: I've made a lot of independent films and it's really depressing when no one sees them.
Elizabeth BanksI think we're in a really interesting moment for women globally just in terms of, like, historically, I think we're in an interesting moment for women. Because, it's important to remember, there have always been funny, funny women. Mae West was real funny. Marilyn Monroe was in one of the greatest comedies, Some Like It Hot, ever made. I mean, it's not like we're lacking. I just think the percentage of women in positions of power in all aspects of our culture is improving and women are standing up and demanding to be heard.
Elizabeth BanksThere's more empathetic representations than we're used to seeing. I honestly feel like in the early days of Hollywood, women did have those. Women had very traditional roles in society of wife and mother, but when they went to the movies, they got to see women be, like, really cool, amazing characters and femme fatales and all of this. And then there was just this systemic reaction where it was all about, "How do we make money?" And everybody wants to sell things to boys. And then women's entertainment became devalued in a way that I think is disrespectful and hurtful.
Elizabeth Banks