Carey Mulligan says meeting one of the New York Times reporters whose story brought Harvey Weinstein down “was rock star stuff.”
The film She Said shows the efforts made in Pulitzer Prize-winning journalism by Megan Twohey and Jodi Kantor in 2017 which revealed Harvey Weinsteinthen one of the most influential producers in Hollywood, as a sexual predator.
Their work has led to a global reckoning on the sexual abuse of women with the #MeToo movement.
Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey Won a Pulitzer Prize for Their Work Helping Debunk Weinstein
Mulligan – who plays Twohey in Zoe Kazan’s Kantor – told Sky News she was “extremely intimidated” about meeting the writers.
“It was rock star stuff… Zoe was in New York and met [them] in person originally, I was still in the UK and so my first meeting was on Zoom, but I was hugely intimidated.
“Not that they’re intimidating people,” laughs Mulligan, “they couldn’t be more adorable, but they’re so impressive, I think we both just wanted them to be happy!”
Shot on the actual New York Times newsroom and with a pace that plays out like a thriller, the film follows reporters’ efforts to get scared sources to go on the record.
Kantor says she and Twohey were “just stunned” to see their investigation made into a film.
“We started by investigating a Hollywood producer, so we’re still a little confused as to how our likeness ended up on the big screen, but listen, we’re really moved by it.
“One of the messages of this story, especially as time has gone on, is that the number of people who really gave us publishable information about Harvey Weinstein was so small. In the end, we’re talking about a conference room worthy of people and but look the impact they’ve had around the world.”
Mulligan – who is widely regarded as an Oscar nominee for the role – says few “could have predicted what the impact would be” but, in terms of the film industry, says she has seen “many real changes” as a result.
Harvey Weinstein is currently serving 23 years in prison
“Codes of conduct, workshops for all cast and crew that talk about what is expected on set in terms of behavior – that has never existed before,” he explains.
Discussing how intimacy coordinators are now considered ‘crucial’, the actress says ‘we did this a long time before it became a thing and it’s still a little shocking to look back and think it was never like this before. , it just seems like such an obvious need on a movie set.”
Mulligan says the movement sparked by the article has even influenced the way screenplays are written today.
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“The way female characters are portrayed in scripts now, it’s not perfect but there’s definitely a big shift from, you know, ‘Gorgeous girl in a bikini, beautiful but she doesn’t know it…’ of that, I think is very welcome.”
She Said is in theaters on Friday.
