00:00Don't miss the American Music Awards tonight on ABC.
00:03Maggie Gyllenhaal attended the New Yorker Festival on Saturday and took the opportunity
00:08to discuss how the MeToo movement empowered her to take risks with her roles both on and off camera.
00:14Gyllenhaal has taken on a variety of roles in recent years. She's currently starring in the
00:19second season of HBO's The Deuce as Eileen Candy Murrell, a call girl turned adult film director.
00:25She also starred in the Netflix thriller The Kindergarten Teacher, where she played a
00:29teacher who develops an obsession with one of her younger poetry students. Gyllenhaal
00:34produced both projects and next up, she plans to make her directorial debut on a film
00:38adaptation of Elena Ferrante's 2006 novel, The Lost Daughter. Gyllenhaal spoke with the New
00:44Yorker's Lauren Collins saying,
00:55The actress spoke on the same day that Brett Kavanaugh was confirmed to the Supreme Court
00:59and she acknowledged that despite the confirmation, a sea change is underway
01:04after Dr. Christine Blasey Ford's testimony.
01:07Even though it didn't have immediately the effect that we hoped it would have, it has shifted
01:11something. There is a sea change going on in every way, I feel it, she said.
01:16She also discussed how MeToo is now pushing women to not compromise on set. On The Deuce, she fought for a
01:22producer credit so she could be a part of the creative conversation. Gyllenhaal also introduced new on-set
01:28safeguards for the female actresses, like having an intimacy coordinator for sex scenes. She also
01:34wrote and performed a scene that required her character to have a realistic, non-performative
01:39female orgasm. The actress said she met with other actresses about their experiences with
01:44sex scenes. When you do a stunt, even if someone just pretends to slap you, there's always someone
01:49there, she said. Someone who is looking out to make sure that you are physically safe. And there
01:54isn't with sex scenes. And why not?
01:56Though Gyllenhaal did not address James Franco's role in the MeToo movement during the panel,
02:00she recently explained that after her The Deuce co-star and the show's executive producer were
02:06accused of sexual misconduct, she personally spoke with both Franco and the women on the show,
02:11in addition to the outside party that was brought in. In a recent episode of NPR's Terry Gross's
02:16Fresh Air podcast, she explained,
02:18"...I felt as a producer it was my job to confront that and talk with Franco, and also to talk with
02:23the women on our show, both in the cast and on the crew, and make sure that everyone felt that
02:28they had been treated with absolutely nothing but respect in the workplace." She continued saying,
02:34For more on this story, head to THR.com. For The Hollywood Reporter News, I'm Neha Joy.
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