00:00Some of the best advice I've given is,
00:02go easy on yourself, Nicole, go easy,
00:05because I'm probably my harshest critic.
00:19I've always said Meryl Streep has been such a beacon
00:23of how to do it all,
00:26how to have children,
00:28and how to have a career,
00:30and how to have a...
00:34I think, you know, I remember the speech she gave,
00:37I think it was a graduation speech
00:39where she talked about the pursuit of excellence.
00:42And that was always,
00:44I think when you set out to be perfect,
00:47try to be the best or any of those things,
00:50I don't think that's the right advice.
00:52The advice is pursuit of excellence is extremely important.
00:57And then you're going to fail,
00:59and you're going to have to get back up again,
01:01but you can keep moving forward.
01:03And so I had so many voices and women who are a part of that,
01:10picking me back up,
01:12and saying, you can do it, you can keep moving forward.
01:15There's so many times during a long career where it ebbs and flows.
01:21And it's in the downtimes,
01:25it's in the ebbs when you go,
01:28that's when I actually need the support.
01:30Anyone can be your friend when it's all going well,
01:34but it's when the chips are down,
01:37when the people step in.
01:40That came out of a conversation with Meryl, strangely enough.
01:43It was a night after,
01:45I think we'd been to the Academy Awards,
01:47and we all kind of went,
01:48well, we're not really going to go out now to a party.
01:52We're just going to, well, do you want to go grab a bite?
01:54And so we all went and we were sitting around the table
01:59and we were talking about how do we change the ratio of these,
02:06in terms of women directors, writers in the industry.
02:10And that was where it was like, well, and Kate was there,
02:13Cate Blanchett, a whole, a number of us.
02:18And Meryl was like, we have to work with them.
02:21We can't just say it's really important.
02:24We actually have to do the work.
02:25And so that's when I went, okay.
02:27And I was heading off to the Cannes Film Festival
02:29and suddenly I was sitting up on the podium there
02:32at a press conference.
02:33And I went, yeah, I pledge to work every 18 months.
02:36There's so many women like Jane Campion and Susannah Beer.
02:39I mean, there's now Helena Rain and so many different women
02:43who have been an enormous part of guiding me
02:46in terms of directing.
02:48I genuinely believe women with power
02:50would behave differently.
02:52Want to start?
02:54With something like Baby Girl, I'm being watched over
02:57by a woman who has written, is directing,
03:02and is also an actress herself.
03:05So she's shaping this role and this performance for me
03:10so that it is an extraordinary complex, deep, funny.
03:22The woman is, by having Helena do that,
03:26I could talk to her about my secrets and my feelings
03:28and the things I have gone through in my life
03:32and she could share hers.
03:34And I felt very safe with her.
03:36And I felt like I could try anything
03:37and she was never going to betray me
03:41or use me in a particular way that wasn't going to feel safe
03:46and wasn't going to feel respectful.
03:49And she would basically cherish my heart and my soul,
03:53which is kind of a really beautiful place.
03:57Be it actresses, producers, writers,
04:03everyone who's starting out in the industry,
04:05I want to say that.
04:06I'm in your corner, you know, cheering you on
04:10or a part of your career and helping you build it.
04:14And I'm also happy to share any of my knowledge.
04:17Yeah, in terms of what I've experienced,
04:20what I've done wrong financially, things you need,
04:23because there isn't a wealth of information out there,
04:26unless you actually go and seek it out.
04:31As much as you appear like you're confident
04:35and you've got it all together,
04:37there's so many times when you're like,
04:40I'm shattered or I'm exhausted
04:42or how am I meant to process this?
04:44Or how do I do this, this?
04:46And I have a huge sense of responsibility.
04:50So I have to, I'm always like, it's okay.
04:53Some of the best advice I've given is,
04:55go easy on yourself, Nicole, go easy.
04:58And it's a lovely thing to remind to be,
05:02because I'm probably my harshest critic.
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