Amy Adams should be our new Leonardo DiCaprio. Meaning, she should be the one everyone is rooting for. It should be “her turn.” She’s already racked up an impressive five Oscar nominations, and Adams consistently turns in wonderful work in a wide range of films. Amy has a reputation of being a pretty chilled out Hollywood operator – there’s never any talk of Amy acting like an a—hole or disrespecting anyone. Her directors love her, her costars love her and everyone always says that she elevates her coworkers to bring their A-game.
Amy also doesn’t look for controversy – she seems to be the kind of person who actively avoids it, which is why I wasn’t surprised that she didn’t want to discuss the Sony Hack, and the revelation that she was paid so little compared to her male costars in American Hustle. The Today Show literally kicked her off the show for refusing to discuss that issue two Decembers ago, and Amy has barely said anything about the pay-equality issue since, even when her Hustle costar Jennifer Lawrence wrote that much-discussed essay about it. Well, Amy covers the new issue of British GQ, and she finally answered some direct questions about the whole pay issue on the American Hustle set. Some highlights:
Whether David O. Russell really made her cry during ‘American Hustle’: “He did… I was really just devastated on set. I mean, not every day, but most. Jennifer [Lawrence] doesn’t take any of it on. She’s Teflon. And I am not Teflon. But I also don’t like to see other people treated badly.. It’s not ok with me. Life to me is more important than movies. It really taught me how to separate work and home. Because I was like, I cannot bring this experience home with me to my daughter.”
She also knew she was being paid less than her male costars: “Yeah, I did. I didn’t speak about it before and I’m probably not going to speak about it forever, because I disagreed with… not Jennifer per se, but people who had opinions on how women should go about negotiating. The truth is we hire people to negotiate on our behalf, men and women… I knew I was being paid less and I still agreed to do it because the option comes down to do it or don’t do it. So you just have to decide if it’s worth it for you. It doesn’t mean I liked it.”
On Jennifer Lawrence’s open letter addressing the pay gap: “I’m really proud of Jennifer. What I liked is that it was not necessarily about getting paid, or not getting paid… It’s like we [women] have been conditioned to not be controversial, to not cause problems. It’s about finding your voice.”
The revelation that Amy is talking openly about how DOR treated her is more newsworthy (to me) than the pay stuff. At that point, Amy had worked with DOR before (on The Fighter), but there was a lot of gossip about how poorly DOR treated Amy specifically on American Hustle. So Amy is basically confirming everything we’ve ever heard. Russell made her cry nearly every day. He treated her badly and he treated other people badly. No surprise there, we’ve known he’s an a—hole for years, haven’t we? George Clooney had some lengthy stories about what the DOR experience is like, and how Clooney came dangerously close to strangling the life out of him on the set of Three Kings.
As for her comments about knowing she was being paid less… I think she’s making a complicated point. It seems like she really admires how Jennifer Lawrence handles herself and Amy would love to be that kind of person, but Amy just isn’t. She seems to be saying that at the end of the day, she’ll take work based on the work, not on pay or pay equality. And I also think that Amy is probably very uncomfortable talking about money at all, especially in a public forum.
Photos courtesy of Norman Jean Roy/GQ UK.
I love Amy and think she’s so talented, but I hate that she lets herself be walked all over.
Edit: Ah, valid points below. What I should have said is, “I hate that people walk all over her!”
I’m not sure that’s a fair comment though. She was a victim of abuse. DOR is an abuser. And she’s speaking up about it now. I think this is a way, way more complex situation. I think she’s a very strong person for speaking up about this.
It is never right to blame the abused. Her options were i am sure limited with all the contracts she signed. Everyone is not emotionally capable to deal with harshness and that is not their fault. The only one who should be blamed is the abuser.
and this is the whole problem with the “strong women” crap. not every person is strong and thats fine, too.
I think she’s simply soft-spoken, not necessarily not strong. I think strength comes in different forms, and considering the kind of career she has in one of the most difficult industries, I would most likely consider her strong — just a different kind of strong from the kind maybe Jennifer Lawrence or J-Lo (i.e “loud”) exhibits.
@Esther, that comment is still out of line. Amy ::is:: strong. The fact that she’s more shy and private and wants her life private does not mean she’s not “strong.” It’s not fair at all to label this woman as weak because of this. The real issue is that “strength” does not always mean shouting someone down. Amy has a ton of inner strength. She’s a very ambitious woman which is why she’s been so successful. She’s publicly calling out an abuser and that takes a ton of strength.
Oh please, Amy didn’t refuse to speak about the pay gap because she’s private, but because she thought it would hurt her career. Fair enough, her choice, but don’t call her strong because she isn’t in that department. (I don’t know much about her being abused). Oh and I think Esther made a fair point. The term “strong woman” doesn’t allow much room for different people with different characters.
I thought she didn’t speak out about it, because as she says in this interview, she made a choice. Maybe she feels there was a certain amount of agency in the choice she picked. I don’t think she’s weak at all — I think she simply picked the lesser of two evils (get kicked off the project if a higher salary was requested or take the role, get an Oscar nomination, and a decent, though not necessarily equal, salary) and was pragmatic about the choice she was faced with. She made a short term sacrifice for a long-term reward, which a lot of us do.
You already amended your statement. But what I will say is that I agree with her on almost everything she said. Others do the negotiating so she’s limited there and the bottom line is, Hollywood does not value women as much as men, so if she pushed her agent to fight for pay equality, she would never work because they’d pass her up to go with the next hungry, marginally talented starlet who’d work for less. She chose to work to build up such an impressive resume such that one day she might win that Oscar and eventually command her paycheck. Now can people see how winning Oscars is actually important? And why every person wants to have that opportunity and not be shut out because of society? Now think about Rock’s joke about having “black categories” and tell me he’s wrong….
-TheRealPinky
Chris Rock is not a champion of women’s causes. He doesn’t care about Amy Adams or her Oscar. In his opening monologue at the Oscars, he said, “There’s no real reason for there to be a man and a woman category in acting.” If Hollywood doesn’t value women as much as men, then yes, of course there is a reason for there to be a “woman category” in acting.
“Chris Rock is not a champion of women’s causes. He doesn’t care about Amy Adams or her Oscar. In his opening monologue at the Oscars, he said, “There’s no real reason for there to be a man and a woman category in acting.” If Hollywood doesn’t value women as much as men, then yes, of course there is a reason for there to be a “woman category” in acting.”
I thought THAT was the point he was trying to make; thus, why, in theory, blacks and whites could hypothetically have separate categories for acting. That’s the only way you could ensure that everyone gets a seat at the table.
@Elsie, then you didn’t get the joke. He was using the split between male and female to illustrate that you sometimes DO need to recognize people based on certain genetic criteria, otherwise the establishment will always act unfairly (alluding to the idea that the white male will always win).
I don’t know what else to tell you.
-TheRealPinky
@perplexed @Pinky If that was the actual message he was trying to get across, then yes, I agree with. But his execution and wording were poor. Because, Chris, there is a *REAL* reason for there to be different categories for gender.
@Pinky it wasn’t a good joke so there was nothing to get. Chris’s exact quote is: “There is no real reason for there to be a man and a woman category in acting.”
You’re saying he’s “using the split between male and female to illustrate that you sometimes DO need to recognize people based on certain genetic criteria.”
What he’s saying and what you’re saying are not the same thing at all. I get that you’re a Chris apologist, and I get that you’re really reading in between the lines to find a good message behind his jumbled speech, but I’m a believer of semantics.
Elsie, I think you need a little #sarcasm sign so it doesn’t fly over your head. Words have context and tone, you know?
I agree.she is gorgeous and talented.
Yeah I think we knew this was true. I just hope the part about Christian Bale getting in his face about it is true too!
I need to hear more about this…
The story’s here, the story of Christian defending her came out in a conversation between higher ups during the Sony leak. I have no reason to believe it’s not true:
http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/movies/bale-defended-adams-hustle-director-leaked-email-article-1.2189094
I’m always thrilled when I remmember this history. I hope it’s true as well.
I get her point, if she said “no, thank you, I want the same paycheck”, they would replace her and she wanted the job. It would be different with Jennifer Lawrence? It probably would, but that’s the reality of Hollywood, you have one role for women and a hundred actresses good enough to fill it and fighting for it.
She is very, very brave for speaking up about the abuse.
I wish I understood how these industry people dared pay a five time Oscar nominee a sum so much inferior to that payed to her male counterparts. And if a five time Oscar nominee doesn’t dare ask for equal pay how can we expect less known even if talented actresses to do it? Plus the emotional abuse various actors took from DOR without daring to stand up to him? I donno this sounds like a shitty situation all around and it will continue if actors put up with everything just to be employed. I think Lawrence deserves some serious credit here.
I’m not sure if they base the salary on nominations though. If that were the case, Meryl Streep would have made more than Julia Roberts did in the ’90s. At some point, Demi Moore, of all people, was the highest paid actress.
I don’t know how they quantify commercial success especially for actresses (who are a lot less in a position to carry the entire movie) but even so, Amy has a lot of visibility and enjoys critical acclaim. Does that not translate into Box office numbers? Does anyone know how they decide on a salary proposal? It doesn’t seem transparent at all if anything it seems flat out discriminatory.
“Does that not translate into Box office numbers?”
In her case, that’s hard to say, I would think. I’ve never heard her referred to as a box-office star or commercially successful. Julia Roberts, yes. Sandra Bullock, yes. Amy Adams — I really have no idea. To be fair, though, I think Roberts and Bullock would love to have her body of work under their belts. Most actresses would. I’m not sure if Roberts and Bullock when younger, priced themselves out of good roles though, which why we know Bullock as Miss Congeniality. I think there are instances where you can make huge salaries — but you have to consider taking on crappier films, I would think. To some degree, I think the same may apply to men, with a few exceptions. Ben Affleck has commanded high salaries, but then you look at his acting filmography, and you’re like “Oh, bad choice, Ben.”
Most likely, Amy Adams should have been paid more for American Hustle if Bradly Cooper was commanding a high salary, but that’s where one’s team comes into play since the women AND men, as Adams points out, aren’t doing the negotiating for themselves. Maybe some actors have savvier teams working for them.
“Amy Adams should be our new Leonardo DiCaprio”
Nope the correct answers are Samuel L Jackson and Annette Bening. But thanks for playing
Benning, Jackson, and Gary Oldman are all far more overdue than poor little Leo was.
Both Oldman and Jackson aren’t known for being very selective about some of the roles they take. For every Hateful Eight or Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, they have some very obvious paycheck roles.
Yeah, I didn’t realize that “Leo is overdue for an Oscar” was a thing until after he had won it.
Yeah, Annette Bening for Gold. Regarding Henry, American Beauty, The Kids are Alright? She is brilliant.
Definitely Samuel L. Jackson. And Alan Rickman. There are so many.
The late Alan Rickman, you mean.
Glenn Close!
As someone who has tried and failed many times to negotiate as much money as my male co-workers in the male dominated field of law…..I understand COMPLETELY what she is saying here and I can’t help but feel that there are going to be a lot of younger women in this thread who have not yet really been in the reality of the workplace not grasping the full complexity of this issue. What Amy is saying here is that, at end of the day, she had to decide if she wanted a seat at the table and she chose the seat at the table. She didn’t like it—she didn’t agree with it. But it was what she had to do to advance her career. This is, sadly, what a lot of women and people of color are FORCED to do sometimes to work or get ahead. I”ve had to do it in my own career as a female attorney and I have not liked it and it has made me upset but I’ve had to do it. It doesn’t make it right or fair but it’s a choice I have made. And I am not “weak” in any way. I am a strong woman. It takes strength to talk about the reality of this like this.
As for the abuse? She is extremely brave for talking about this and I genuinely hope that she doesn’t face any retaliation for speaking up. This could not have been easy to do. I wish Jennifer Lawrence would also break free from DOR. In a way, I feel like Jlaw is just as much a victim of his abuse as Amy is because she genuinely believes she “needs” him to be successful and has convinced herself that this abuse is actually love. That’s what an abuser does–convinces you that they are doing it for your own good. I’m proud of Amy and will always support her.
THIS. ALL OF IT +10000
The issue I have with DOR and JLaw is that she defends him and makes excuses for him, she seems to be the only one who does and I guess that’s why he keeps casting her in his movies.
Am glad Amy is speaking out and am also glad that her co stars like Bale defended her against a nasty bully.
@Betti, I get that and I’m frustrated with JLaw too. But I’m also trying to remember that this is how the cycle of abuse plays out. 0’Russell is a genuine bully and abuser and Jennifer defending him fits right in with that cycle of abuse. Amy is really, really brave for talking about this. This couldn’t have been easy for her and I hope Hollywood stands with her on this one.
Ummm that’s how abusers work esp ones with a lot of power. For Jlaw she’s in a rough position because she clearly fought with him on Joy (I think it was the first time his ire was turned towards her) and that’s why she spent all her time away from set when she could. But what is she supposed to say? Hey I hate the director but go see the movie? DOR has a history of abuse and burying women (yes only women) when they go against him. All you have to do is google him and you’ll see. That’s the hollywood machine they won’t protect JLaw if she says anything pubic ally…I’m hoping she moves away from him esp now that the public is over their collabs as well
Excellent post.
ITA. It really amazed me how many of my old college roommates were saying they’d worked and hadn’t experienced any pay gap or sexism. Then I realized they were all talking about working for a maximum of 5 years (so, 22-27) before they had kids and became SAHMs.
Of course, at the beginning of your career, when you don’t have kids and are interchangeable with a single childless male, you don’t experience significant sexism or real pay gaps. This doesn’t kick in until you approach mid-career, and start having kids, and start realizing that you’re unable to negotiate the same wages. And that the men aren’t turning 30 and planning their careers around their fertility. You really have to keep working before you realize how the field stacks against you.
You win all comments, ever. AMEN!
-TheRealPinky
Mary, I don’t remember reading your comments before, but I absolutely LOVED your take on this issue. Please comment more often!
I was waiting for this post.
DOR is absolute trash. I hate him with every fiber of my being. I hope with people speaking out against him and his wonderful awards season showing of Joy, he will diminish in the ranks. He is an awful director who makes awful movies and i am glad Amy Adams is not having anything to do with him anymore
His constant support by Jennifer Lawrence is the main reason I have cooled on her quite a bit. I get not being able to actually come out and say things against him but constant gushing about him, taking him as her plus 1…. like why ?? I also very much acknowledge that the relationship is not healthy at all and would not surprise me if there is some power imbalance there.
Before anyone says it, Amy is not weak for not standing up to him or letting him get to her. there is only one person at fault here and that is the abuser.
He is an awful director, he really is!
Makes you wonder what JLaw’s own father was like. If you’re raised around anger, you become Teflon. If you’re not, it’s a shock.
Jennifer has 4 older brothers if I am correct. She’s spoken about how they would bully her as a child. I think she is used to a very male environment which serves her well in the movie industry.
I doubt that her father was abusive too. He seems pretty sweet. (Not saying that abusers can’t seem nice, but you can’t jump to conclusions either.)
@Leah. She has two brothers but yes. I think she sees peopl who are turned off by DOR’s attiude as weak. I have no proof but in general her interviews indicate such.
Jen has older brothers so that’s why she’s “tougher” so to speak. The problem is DOR “gave” her the Oscar win so she feels like she owes him. Its why she was basically bullied into AH on her only break in 2013. Its another form of abuse and frankly even people from the best families can fall victim to abuse
I think Amy and Jennifer are two sides of the same coin. They are working with the system they have. Amy spent most of her career trying to make it big, now that she has she doesn’t want to rock the boat. She remembers those hungry years of poor work.
Jennifer, knows she has popularity but is equally aware that Hollywood has few meaty parts for women and she wants longevity. She can get meaty parts working with DOR whereas with other directors she will remain second fiddle to the male lead unless she does cheesy Rom-Coms. If you read between the lines of her “praise” for DOR, you can see her also saying it’s hard working for him.
But she has to put on her big girl panties and take the pain. Women face this in the workplace all the time. You say how great your boss is in his face and bitch about him to co-workers and friends because it is hard to get such a great job as you have.
She was MIA for stretches of the AH campaign when leaks came out that she was having a hard time dealing with DOR. She looked physically and emotionally exhausted. So I see Amy and Jennifer as the same.
I think what people aren’t realizing is that Jlaw was 20/21 when she started working with DOR–in 2011. Won her Oscar the next year. Now she’s 25. He didn’t start out being an abusive jackass. He was on his best behavior, because his abusive jackass behavior sank his career for many years. He was on his best behavior for SLP.
Then he wants her for AH. Acts like an abusive jackass to Amy on AH. Her role is supposed to be a cameo. But then he rewrites/reworks the whole movie to give her more lines, more time, and more of an impact on the film. And she’s what? 23?
And now she’s his muse, his ingenue, and they’re both getting accolades, and JLaw KNOWS she’s got until she hits somewhere around 30, before they replace her with some other blonde ingenue. So she sucks it up. And these are the same people who won’t pay her according to her status, but will rework an entire press campaign around her name/image. That tells you right there how much power she has.
Joy happens. And we all know what happened there. She’s working on a film that’s supposed to get her accolades and critical acclaim…….and the director screams and verbally abuses her–and God knows what else. No one else is talking. And she denies it. What would you expect? “Oh yea, DOR is a massive asshole who screams and throws tantrums like a two year, come see my movie with him!” No. That’s not how it works in the real world.
The real onus is on the people who keep hiring DOR. And the fact that people keep focusing on JLaw, because they don’t like her, is a huge problem. Just like when someone, a year or so ago, made a comment that JLaw must give Weinstein BJ’s because of how many awards she’s been nominated for–hardly anyone condemned Weinstein for putting an actress in that position, IF TRUE, etc…..all the blame is put on the victim.
And I completely get it with JLaw. A few years ago, I spent about a year taking care of my grandma. Living in her house for half the week, etc, doing everything–because no one else would….because she’s a mean alcoholic who spent the majority of the time either criticizing my cleaning abilities, wanting me to do stuff when SHE wanted me to do it (like not being able to clean anything heavy duty after 12 am, etc), and wanting every disagreement (no matter how minor) to end with me being wrong.
For example: She mentioned something about Casey Kasem i.e. the guy whose family was fighting over his body. When I said this, she freaked out and basically said no, I was wrong because Casey was so great, which means his family must be so great, which means they’re not fighting over anything and YOU’RE WRONG. It was a throw away comment that turned into this huge, drawn out argument/discussion because she didn’t want to be wrong.
So I get it.
I just read the whole interview and Amy says there was a big difference in DOR between the Fighter and AH. She said that DOR, Cooper and Lawrence had developed this manic energy on set. She also said that she would never say never but she couldn’t see herself working with DOR again, at least not in the foreseeable future and not while she was going home to her daughter; she didn’t want that sort of energy anywhere near her child. She also seemed particular upset about seeing DOR mistreat others, which is something I don’t believe Cooper or Lawrence have ever addressed.
I think it’s also very different in that Jennifer Lawrence is a very hot commodity right now. Additionally, there are many other actresses who can demand a certain salary and get it because what studios really want is a particular name to attach to a movie. Amy Adams is a phenomenal actor. But she does not have that kind of power, and I think she knows it. Her name does not pull people into theaters. I have a feeling she’s savvy enough to know when she can make demands and when they’ll simply replace her with another actress. It’s not fair and it’s not right, but it’s reality.
1) ” I didn’t speak about it before and I’m probably not going to speak about it forever, because I disagreed with… not Jennifer per se” What does she mean, someone clarify?
2) I find DOR’s work overrated, I mean, Silver Linings Playbook was ok at best
3) Bad styling/pose on that cover.
I think the person she is calling out is Amy Pascal from SONY who came out and blamed Jennifer and Amy for not asking for more money. I also think she probably was annoyed at people turning what was a choice on her part into a freaking circus. Remember…this info was private and released without her consent. Imagine how violating that must have been for her. Amy was violated in all of this in many ways.
1.I personally took it to mean how the conversation about the pay gap was happening. Like we keep hearing about JLaw now demanding a certain salary or Charlize just asking Sony to raise her fees and they did but except these maybe 10 to 15 actresses anyone else who asks for a raise will be replaced by someone who will be willing to work for prestigious projects for less.
2. Right ?
Are they really going to be fired if they ask for more money? If all women ask for more money they would have to pay equal salarys. As long as there are women like Adams there won’t be equal payment. I’m not blaming her alone, it’s probably not an easy topic, especially in Hollywood, but her behaviour made me really dislike her.
“Are they really going to be fired if they ask for more money?”
Have you ever had a job? The answer is sadly, yes.
This literally JUST happened to my friend who found out the male web developers at her company were making more than her. She asked for more, and was quietly “let go due to creative differences” a few weeks later.
No, I never had a job.
Good god, of course I had. I have a friend as well, who asks for more money and guess what, she either gets what she wants or they deny the upgrade but are not firing her. Boom.
In the second half she sort of clarifies: “not Jennifer per se, but people who had opinions on how women should go about negotiating. The truth is we hire people to negotiate on our behalf, men and women”
Maybes she means it’s hard to tell a Hollywood actress how to negotiate since they have other people doing the negotiating for them. That’s probably why this issue is tough for some actresses to discuss (Kate Winslet has also expressed reservations) — they’re not doing the direct negotiating like women and men in real life are doing ; it’s up to their team to get the job done. She seems to be making it clear that the men aren’t directly negotiating for themselves either yet the advice on how to negotiate seems to be doled out for the women (I know it’s because women are being paid less, but since they’re not directly negotiating in the advocacy for themselves I’m not sure what kind of advice one can actually give for coming across a certain way in that kind of situation).
I LOVE Amy. I haven’t seen every single one of her movies, but there’s isn’t one performance that I have seen that I’ve been disappointed in. I felt she deserved the Oscar for American Hustle. She was the best part of that movie to me. I even liked her in the Wedding Date!!
I think her point about women being conditioned to not be controversial is a powerful one that cuts to the core of so many issues, including pay inequality. I never realized it before, but because Amy is so quiet about things outside of work, it really does allow her characters to shine.
Also, you have to be a SERIOUS asshole for Christian Bale to intervene and tell you to back off, so DOR sounds like a real piece of work.
LOL it seems George Clooney accepted going to jail if it meant he could kill DOR. Anectodes against him are the best thing to come out of this mess.
that movie she made about the leap year and asking her fiance to marry her in Ireland… in that her acting was not great. probably it was the material — she didnt seem comfortable. the actor who played her love interest ultimately was wrong for the part which probably did not help.
I remember seeing a lengthy interview of her for American Hustle, and she didn’t give any details, just seemed very, very relieved to be done with that experience. I hope Jennifer Lawrence realizes that even though she’s “Teflon”, she still shouldn’t be subjected to that sort of behavior in a professional setting.
I understand what she’s saying about taking the work even though she knew she’d be paid less, but I do hope in the future she and her team are tougher in negotiations. She deserves it.
Can someone please call out Bradley Cooper on this. When he was scoring points with some section of the media, saying he would help his costars negotiate better wages, he said he only found about the pay difference from the leak. Cooper was a producer on AH and if Amy knew about the pay difference are we seriously expected to believe he didn’t? Also, he spent a huge amount of time on set with Amy and was, apparently, very much present in the editing room. He must of seen her distress on a regular basis, Christian Bale was also there most of the time and he certainly did and he took action. Amy indicates some of her distress was caused by seeing others badly treated, I can only conclude that Cooper didn’t care.
ITA about Cooper he did nothing with DOR was abusing everyone, thou am sure he was on the receiving end as well. I get slimey douche vibes from Cooper and good for Bale for sticking up for Amy. Bale is an intense person/actor and other than the Terminator incident he seems to have a pretty good rep in Hollywood – i haven’t heard any other gossip about problems with him, other than he’s intense.
“Our next Leonardo Dicaprio.” I like Amy a lot but honestly I never felt any type of closeness or connection with her OR Leo. Her acting doesn’t “speak” to me, if that makes sense. And there are many other people waiting on their turn who are more deserving than she is.
This is a good interview. I like how frankly she’s speaking and my heart goes out to her for how she was treated. DOR is 🚮.
I think Amy is very deserving. What I love about her is that she always shows up to work. She’s consistent. She’s not one of those stars who is “on” one day but then goes off the rails. She shows up, works hard and always works to elevate whatever project she’s in. I love that about her. As for her acting…that hospital scene in Junebug will haunt me for the rest of my days. As someone who has had a miscarriage…it hit really close to home.
Same. I’m sympathetic because no one deserves to go to work and be screamed at and made to cry but I do somewhat see the problem and why she chooses to continue to work and not make waves.
She’s a very solid actress but she doesn’t have much of a…persona? Not the word I’m looking for but sort of. There used to be a special on TCM called “That Guy Movies” and it was about these male actors you’d see all the time in different movies but for some reason never really broke through to people knowing their name and following them. So they were always present and turned in amazing work but the most reaction they’d get was always, “Hey it’s ‘that’ guy!”
Amy seems to be the female version of that. She turns in strong work and is capable as hell but I could see how if she made waves they’d just pick a different actress because she’s sort of…wallpaperesque (not in looks, just acting).
Oh I don’t agree with that at all. Amy is super private and not interested in the Hollywood scene. But to call her “wallpaper” is really kind of a mean thing to say. She consistently tries new things. She has been able to embody a Princess in a way that few other people could yet I totally believed her as a trash bar girl in The Fighter or a cult leader in The Master. She was masterful in Junebug and HER and perfected screwball comedy in Miss Pettigrew. She just doesn’t live the Hollywood scene and is a more private person. I appreciate that about her.
Thanks for your response Kate, I wrote my comment with my feelings but I’m always willing to re-examine something.
I know that in American Hustle she didn’t particularly stand out to me and she was one of four leads. I’ve also seen her in other things and always come away feeling like she did amazing work but that she was also somewhat…just there.
I haven’t watched Junebug however, so maybe that’s the film that will wow me. I agree with another poster who feels like she hasn’t turned in ‘that’ performance that just puts her on a new level. I think that’s what I’ve been missing.
+1 I do like Amy but she’s not a long suffering actress deserving of an oscar. Every actor has a role or several roles that define their career ,she hasn’t had one yet.
ENCHANTED???
….that’s not really true. She really should have won back in 2005 for Junebug. I would call that a defining role.
Also, I would argue that “Enchahted” was an incredible role and if we had any imagination with oscars she would have gotten a best actress nod for that. I would have given her the Oscar over Melissa Leo in The Fighter too. Either way…I don’t think she’s super concerned about winning an Oscar.
Kate, I’m not saying she isn’t deserving. She’s a good actress. I’m just saying that her acting has yet to “touch” me and I don’t feel like she’s the one I should be rooting for next. She definitely needs a breakout role. I’ll check Junebug out.. I’ve lost children as well so maybe that movie will hit home with me.
Also, I responded to your comment in the Rihanna thread about the language in her new song being “lazy.”
TESE and Finger- I agree.
She was brilliant in The Fighter, Junebug, and The Master. And that’s just 3 of 10 worthy performances I could name. I feel very connected with her acting because it comes across as extremely real and lived in. Especially The Fighter.
I like her as an actress, I’ve seen pretty much everything she’s done, but she hasn’t done anything interesting for a while now. Her little roles in Drop Dead Gorgeous and Catch Me If You Can were great, and she was so good in Junebug and Enchanted. Ms Pettigrew lives for a day was a high point, she was absolutely delightful in that. I do think she’s somewhat like Leo in that she wants an Oscar and she’s been choosing projects based on that, and thus not doing her best work.
She’s a good actress, but not an out of this world amazing one. She’s not at all compelling when she’s playing a less bubbly, expressive character, so a lot of her straight dramatic or romantic roles fall flat. She’s often thoroughly out-acted by her co-stars (David, Streep, PSH, Bale, Phoenix). When she’s in a bad film she gets dragged down with it, she can’t rise above the material.
I like her, I think some of the work she did a decade or so ago was Oscar worthy (though she wasn’t robbed, other actresses gave equal or better performances), but when Peter O’Toole, Orson Welles, Richard Harris, Peter Sellers, Richard Burton and Charlie Chaplin never won acting Oscars, and amazing current actors like Gary Oldman, Naomi Watts, Viola Davis, Glenn Close, Annette Bening, Robert Redford, Laura Linney, Steve Buscemi, Sam Rockwell, Paul Giamatti etc. don’t have one I can’t get worked up about her not having one. Her peers like Fassbender, Phoenix, Michelle Williams, Ryan Gosling and Chiwetel Ejiofor are way more overdue and overlooked than her, at least she get’s nominated.
Leo’s acting doesn’t speak to me. I think Amy is incredible, it shows a lot of strength to speak up to this behavior. She’s risking everything she has spent her life working for.
I can’t stand DOR, and he gets so much love from the studios. What a pig is he is. I honestly wish Christian Bale had just clocked him one. As for Amy, I think she will have a long and impressive career. She will get an Oscar someday. I just don’t think it’ll be some mass campaign for it.
The story is that George Clooney did when the were making 3kings – there was a few run ins on that set between them both.
Can we please stop with these, he / she should win an Oscar because it’s been long overdue? It should be given to whom ever did the best acting in that category that year not from the past performance that’s been overlooked. Smh.
Amy’s a good actress but she’s not as big as Lawrence. I bet if she spoke about this equality pay, the impact, reaction and support won’t be a big as when Lawrence did it – the America’s sweetheart who can do no wrong. Amy is probably afraid that if she’ll call this one out, she’ll be called ungrateful and stuff like that and won’t get any acting jobs. Or maybe you’re right, maybe for her, it’s not about the money but more for the job, getting a job which she loves? I still roll my eyes when I think about Lawrence’s equality pay stand but won’t say a thing about the fact that she got paid 10 million more than her male co-star in an upcoming film.
I wish there were a two-year waiting period for Oscars. You’d vote for movies that came out over a year ago. Often, after time goes by and you’ve finally seen all the movies/actors nominated, a couple of them really stick in your mind as very very good. (At the moment it’s like The Bachelor – he has to make up his mind so quickly!)
I think Amy is awesome, always look forward to seeing her in a movie.
So she’s basically saying that she didn’t say anything about the pay discrepancy because she didn’t want to be controversial which … is kind of the issue, isn’t it?
She is so stunning and has been knocking it out of the park with these editorials lately. She’s got, I think, the best hair in Hollywood. I’m in total agreement–it’s time for her Oscar, baby!
I thought she was saying she doesn’t negotiate her pay so the issue isn’t how women behave in negotiations. When the decision reaches her, it’s a yes or a no and she makes that based on the work.
I am the same way. I take work for the work. It helped me build up my CV but I didn’t get fair representation so really my CV only shows a fraction of the actual work I did.
I can see the conflict. You want the privilege of working for the work. Like Mindy Kaling said, most actors can just make a TV show and not get asked about diversity all the time. But you do hit a wall where you’re accepting unfair treatment and you have to stop for the sake of your self respect. I think that’s when you start to realize the system doesn’t just reward the work after all.
It’s interesting to hear someone take such a pragmatic tone honestly but if anyone knows their worth and how well they’re really wanted it’s the person themselves.
I do think she could have an amazing performance or movie that really makes her break out but I can also see how her plans are just to lay a steady foundation and be the one studios can turn to for a good reliable job.
I do feel badly that she has a fatalistic attitude towards her work but I dare say she’s not wrong with what she’s trying to imply. Someone mentioned yesterday I shouldn’t blame Zoe Saldana for choosing Simone because as an actress you just have to make the choices that work for you but I do. I blame her for the same reason I blame those who enable DOR.
The reality is silence can be a form of encouragement and the way no one has curbed DOR and in fact actresses are lined up to work with him are why he can be so abusive towards so many. I don’t see anything changing unless someone eventually takes a stand and so far no one seems the one to do it. Thus…he’ll continue being an abusive toad.
Well she’s clearly taking a stand against him here. I genuinely hope he won’t make her life more miserable after this.
Agreed. I wasn’t blaming her, this is a stand. But sadly I know J. Law and many others are just lining up to work with him.
It’s one thing to be eccentric, but screaming at or touching your actors? Unacceptable, and yet people still line up. Disappointing.
That is not a rumor about Clooney and Russell, George confirmed it and vowed never to work with him again.
Russell’s career was in the toilet because he was just not worth it. Wahlberg is the reason for the resurgence. Two peas in a pod.
I like her and she’s very talented but to be honest I didn’t agree that Leo was long overdue so I am not going to get on this bandwagon.
I tell you who is looooong overdue, Gary Oldman!
Yup!
Oldman said many disappointing words recently but damn is that man an amazing actor. He’s just one of those who’s roles are iconic.
It’s a crying, bleeding shame that Oldman has only been nominated once. He has so many memorable characters under his belt. Sid Vicious, Sirius Black, Dracula, Jean-Baptiste Emmanuel Zorg, Commisoner Gordon. He disappears into his roles so completely.
Yeah. Despite the protests in the internet, Leo is actually very well-liked in the Acadamy. Not counting The Revenant, 4 nominations at 40 is quite an accomplishment and not something many actors can brag about. Oldman’s been acting since Leo was in kindergarten and he’s only been nominated once (being 4 times the actor Leo is – though that much is subjective).
I don’t have a strong opinion on her acting, but I think she’s one of those people who is considered consistent. And on the actress side, people like that usually aren’t rewarded for some reason. The ones who get the award are usually the actresses who shock you with a really good performance after a string of terrible ones. I suspect she’s one of those people the Oscars feel they can reward in the future since she doesn’t do a bad job in any of her roles. I think the other ones seem to get rewarded because Hollywood probably knows they’ll never turn out another good performance. Even on the men’s side, this happens at times (i.e Matthew McConaughey). It’s like being consistent is almost a hindrance to getting the award.
Yeah, but I don’t think wins account for that much in the end. Many people have won for their only nomination, and more often than not those actors end up having mediocre careers with bad filmographies. I’m not that crazy about Amy as an actress, but she’s consistently booking good work.
I agree. I don’t think wins much (at least not now anyway). I just think her consistency is probably why she doesn’t have an award yet — that, and the fact that her nominations started rolling in when she was older (which seems to hurt women; it seems easier to win when you’re younger for some reason).
Amy has two Oscar type films coming out next year but neither is a Oscar bait, one is too sci fi and other might be too small film, so she might get nominated again next year but not win.
But I do not really agree with these due thing, the best should win and when there is limited amount of times people can win that some people just unfortunately never win since other person was better the year you gave your best work. However that is not be a horrible thing that you do not win, many talented people have not. I rather root for some talented people who have never got a nomination to get one like Idris Elba, Scarlett Johansson, Donald Sutherland, Jennifer Ehle, Tom Hiddleston etc.
People are already predicting her for Nocturnal Animals. I hope both she and Jake along with Tom Ford are lauded. A Single Man was an excellent film and I hope this is even better.
I don’t have a great deal to say about her acting she is always good but she’s never really blown me away. Furthermore her personality doesn’t seem very strong. Even in those hollywood reporter roundtable conversations she comes across as very shy and quiet, to the point where she was overshadowed by the other actresses. She seemed like a sweet, normal person amongst more flamboyant or self assured women. I can only imagine that she would have a horrible time on a movie set run by someone like DOR.
Nobody deserves an Oscar because they don’t have one yet. And usually the ‘it’s time’ Oscars take away from better performances.
Thanks.
I like Amy and good for her for speaking about this abuse but no – we don’t need more Leos. We don’t need more victimizing “you’ve robbed me of this award!” campaigns. Though I think Amy is far too classy and low-key for that.
This is a serious question and not meant to troll at all, but I do wonder if in part she is uncomfortable to talk about money because it seems, at least from the outside looking in, that she is the breadwinner of her family (which is fine). I am all about women making the money and men doing more to help out around the house and the day to day of keeping the family unit humming, so my comment isn’t meant to dig at her husband. But based on their resumes, I assume she probably makes more than him.
How is that relevant ?
It appears the Op is one of those people who still for some reason think that it’s shameful for a woman to make more than a man. I make 30% more than my husband (because I have an advanced degree and he doesn’t, natch), and he’s totally fine with it, but other people CAN’T. EVEN. HANDLE. IT. Literally as if it offends them somehow, they can’t wrap their brains around it, especially that I often have to *gasp* give HIM spending $$…
@anon33, I never once said I thought it was shameful or that anything like that so please don’t twist my question. I believe consenting adults can live however they want. I have plenty of girlfriends who make more than their husbands/partners, and it is fine. But I have other girlfriends who make more than their husbands/partners and it is a bit awkward. I am not passing judgement, but for some men they feel a little uncomfortable that their wives make more. It is their insecurity. Congrats to your husband. He has no hangups, but it isn’t the same for all men.
See I don’t think it’s bc of her husband. I always figure it’s bc unlike a lot of these other celebs…she grew up poor. So she probably feels really conflicted fighting over more $ when she grew up with so little and is clearly aware of her privilege.
I think the reasons she gives make perfect sense. If she fought for more, there was a big chance the studio would just look for another actress who would settle for that ammount. So she took what she was offered, which wasn’t the best, but it was there for her. I don’t know why this is hard to believe.
I have a lot of thoughts on pay equality and the lack thereof. My perspective comes from the being 1 of 2 daughters of a single mother, the sister of a single mother, a friend to single mothers, My perspective comes from those of us who have to work more than one full time job to remain a strong, independent woman (like my mother who showed me by example). Yes, in this day and age, it is appalling that we still have to deal with sexism, and also racism, ageism, and so on. I do agree with Amy Adams, it is her (and anyone else’s) choice to accept the job or not, wage and all. At the end of the job, they are all still reaping significantly more rewards than the rest of us. And I am also sure that more than one of us out here has had a supervisor who was/is so awful that you can only hope and pray you don’t cry in public. And you have no other choice than to suck it up until you can find something else that hopefully is better and not actually worse. Trust, pay disparity or not, I would gladly do their job and reap their rewards (for one movie even) while they do my jobs and still come up short every month.
Jlaw and David seem to have such a typical abuser/abusee relationship. She always seems so frightened by him. It was really telling when the stories came out that he was yelling at her and making her cry on the joy set. She had to go on Facebook and deny the whole thing. During the press tour she took responsibility for the whole thing when he was the one assaulting her. He’s even made fun of her ambitions to direct. It’s sad. But I think he has some power hold over her and I think it’s because she won an Oscar for a movie he directed
@christina
YES. I was thinking the same thing. The abuser/abusee relationship dynamic I see so strongly in DOR and JLaw.
That’s exactly it. Its classic and I’m hoping Jen is done now that Joy and this Oscar campaign is finished.
I am very proud of her for her comments re: DOR. I think he is the creepiest, arrogant, d-bag. I am very much like Amy where it actually bothers me worse to see other people treated poorly. I get really upset, especially when someone is just being a bully like DOR. I’ve honestly lost a lot of respect for JLaw bc of just how close and all about DOR she is. Like that’s good she isn’t offended by him but it should bother her to watch him treat others like dirt. It just bugs me. Not sure I agree w Amy on the wage gap, but w her personality, I see why she feels the way she does. She seems like a genuinely nice person.
I hated her role in AH (Bale’s, too), and other than that I find her acting pretty run-of-the-mill. I wonder how DOR treats Elisabeth Rohm. She was in both AH and Joy.
I agree with someone up thread who said that they started to dislike JLaw when they heard how DOR treated Amy, and then JLaw gushed over him. I get it, JLaw is the cool girl, the popular girl, so of course DOR likes her, but who can stand by when someone is being cruel to another person, nevertheless gush over him afterward? Only a real jerk, that’s who.
Amy was very brave to say that DOR was cruel. Good for her.
I think what she’s saying is – she was aware of the pay discrepancy at the time and since she agreed to those terms, it would somehow be hypocritical to go back and criticize them. However, that would only be true if she weren’t the victim of a profoundly and systemically unjust system. We can be a part of a system but still be free to point out its injustices. Her silence symbolizes the silence of women everywhere. The very fact that she has to choose between speaking out or maintaining her career is proof.
Amy does seem quite meek. I am disappointed that she won’t join forces with woman though to try and end wage inequality. But at the end of the day most woman in the world are programmed to just deal with it.
And another thing, why are we all just sitting around being OK with David o being a huge price?! Can’t we find another director thats just as good, but doesn’t treat everyone on set like shit?!