“Me Too” activists in Tinseltown will have their work cut out for them if actress Susan Sarandon is right about Hollywood’s success formula: “Don’t ask questions.”
The Academy Award-winning actress offered a critique of Hollywood this week during a Q&A session in London for her latest documentary, “Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story,” briefly veering into the scandals that destroyed the reputations of producer Harvey Weinstein, actor Kevin Spacey and others.
“It’s certainly not a requirement to be smart in my business,” Ms. Sarandon, the film’s executive producer, said Thursday, THR reported. “Mediocrity is rewarded time and time again. A lot of the time you’re hired because you don’t ask questions. It takes more time to ask questions. It takes more time to fight for something with integrity.”
The comment, sparked by a conversation on Ms. Lamarr as a Hollywood star and inventor, then dovetailed into the industry’s hiring practices.
“It’s very complicated in my business, especially, because it’s all about your sexual currency,” she said. “Whether you actually deliver to anyone in charge to get a job that way — people hire women they want to be with and men they want to be. And anyone that falls in between is a character actor.”
The “Thelma and Louise” star’s comments came just days after the 90th Academy Awards.
A portion of the March 4 ceremony was dedicated to celebrities who launched the #MeToo movement.
“The changes we are witnessing are being driven by the powerful sound of new voices, of different voices, of our voices, joining together in a mighty chorus that is finally saying: ’Time’s up,’” Ashley Judd said during the broadcast.
• Douglas Ernst can be reached at dernst@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.