Emma Thompson says Hollywood sexism has only gotten worse: "I think it’s still completely sh*t, actually"

She doesn't think there has been "any appreciable improvement" regarding the industry's treatment of women

Published July 21, 2015 2:33PM (EDT)

Emma Thompson           (Reuters/Kevork Djansezian)
Emma Thompson (Reuters/Kevork Djansezian)

Hollywood women have been increasingly outspoken regarding sexism in the film business in recent months, and now Emma Thompson is joining the fray, deeming the industry to be in “a worse state than I have known it.”

“I don’t think there’s any appreciable improvement, and I think that, for women, the question of how they are supposed to look is worse than it was even when I was young,” the legendary actress told British magazine the Radio Times. “So no, I am not impressed, at all. I think it’s still completely shit, actually.”

“When I was younger, I really did think we were on our way to a better world. And when I look at it now, it is in a worse state than I have known it, particularly for women, and I find that very disturbing and sad,” Thompson continued. “So I get behind as many young female performers as I can, and actually a lot of the conversations with them are about exactly the fact that we are facing and writing about the same things and nothing has changed, and that some forms of sexism and unpleasantness to women have become more entrenched and indeed more prevalent.”

This isn’t Thompson’s first time speaking out about barriers to women in her industry. At a Hollywood Reporter roundtable back in 2013, Thompson spoke about the many lame supporting roles she was offered in her thirties, asking rhetorically: “Are people writing better parts for women now? What the ding-dong heck is going on if this still something we’re talking about?” What the ding-dong heck, indeed.


By Anna Silman

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Emma Thompson Feminism Hollywood Sexism