Elizabeth Banks has recalled being told outright that she wouldn’t be able to direct male actors, a claim she says she immediately proved wrong by directing Ray Liotta.
Appears on The Kelly Clarkson Show to promote her Peacock comedy series The miniature wifeBanks was asked about moments she’s been made to feel small in Hollywood.
Her response was immediate.
“I was literally told because I direct movies that, ‘You can’t direct men. They won’t follow you,'” she said.
“And then I directed Ray Liotta, who played Henry Hill in it Goodfellasand I think I made it. Check. It’s all good.”
Liotta starred in Banks’ 2023 film Cocaine bearwhich grossed $90 million worldwide.
It was one of several major studio films Banks co-directed pitch perfect 2, a $287 million global hit, and Charlie’s Angels in 2019.
It is Charlie’s Angels an experience Banks returned to at length, describing her frustration at losing control of the film’s narrative to a media determined to portray it as a feminist statement rather than just a big-budget action film.
“So much of the story that the media wanted to tell about Charlie’s Angels was that it was some feminist manifesto,” she recalled.
“I just loved the franchise. There wasn’t this gendered agenda from me. It was very layered on top of the work and it was a bit of a skirt. It felt like it beat me and the audience to the movie.”
When Clarkson asked if being told she couldn’t direct men had merely fired her for doing exactly that, Banks’ response was to the point.
“Yes, of course!”
