Elizabeth Banks recently appeared on The Kelly Clarkson Show to promote her Peacock comedy series, Miniature Wives, and was asked about a time when she felt overwhelmed as an actor, director, and producer in Hollywood. She didn’t shy away from being told that she couldn’t direct male actors once she got behind the camera.
“I direct movies, so I was literally told, ‘You can’t direct men. They won’t follow,'” Banks said. “And I directed Ray Liotta, who played Henry Hill on ‘Goodfellas,’ and I think it went well. Check it out. Everything’s fine.”
Banks has directed major Hollywood studio films including Pitch Perfect 2, Charlie’s Angels and Cocaine Bear, the latter of which co-starred Liotta and grossed $90 million worldwide in 2023. The “Pitch Perfect” sequel was a hit with $287 million worldwide, but the 2019 “Charlie’s Angels” reboot flopped with $73 million. In past interviews, Banks has been honest about her frustration with how the media has reduced Charlie’s Angels to just another movie. She told The New York Times in 2022 that she wished the film’s marketing “didn’t present itself as just for girls,” later telling Rolling Stone that that was the only perspective the media wanted to perpetuate anyway.
“A lot of what the media wanted to convey about ‘Charlie’s Angels’ was that it was a feminist manifesto,” Banks said. “People kept saying, ‘You’re the first female director of Charlie’s Angels!'” And I thought, “They only do TV shows and McG movies…what are they talking about?” There is no longer a legacy like this. “I just loved the franchise. I didn’t have this gender agenda. It was a little disappointing because it was valued above the work. I felt like that put me and the audience into this movie. ”
“It was really disappointing to lose control of the story like that,” Banks added. “Regardless of how you frame something, you know how the media frames something. I happen to be the woman who directed the Charlie’s Angels movies that starred three amazing women. You can’t control the media by saying, ‘You’re special because you’re a female director!'” That’s true, but there’s more to it than that. ”
Banks recalled that she had to ask men to promote the film as well as women.
“I remember having a conversation with someone like, ‘You guys are going to partner with drivers,’ and it was just hair-raising,” Banks said. “So I was like, ‘Okay…but can we do an ad during the baseball playoffs? This isn’t the only thing.'” It was interesting to see how the industry views things starring women. That was a real lesson for me. ”
When Kelly Clarkson asked if being told that she can’t command people just adds fuel to the fire, Banks replied, “Yeah, absolutely!”
Watch Banks’ full interview on “The Kelly Clarkson Show” in the video below.
