If we show fictional characters doing cool stuff, then girls will want to be it in real life. Geena Davis More Quotes by Geena Davis More Quotes From Geena Davis Everything I do, I want to take it to the farthest possible degree. I can't just do something the plain way. I don't cook a bowl of pasta; it has to be puff pastry swans. Geena Davis swanspuffdegrees Instead of trying to manufacture feelings, use the way you already feel. Or at least add that in. Geena Davis feelingsaddtrying Women can feel inspired by the story. People who haven't been traditionally given a chance to use their skills or shine are given a chance, and they prevail. Geena Davis chanceshiningpeople The fictitious worlds created for kids are nearly bereft of female presence. It's sending a very clear message from the beginning that women and girls do not have half of the adventures, that they're not as important. We're teaching kids that girls and women don't take up half the space in the world. Geena Davis girlteachingadventure What are we doing that for in the 21st century? Why on earth would we teach kids that girls are less important than boys? It just made no sense to me. Geena Davis girlboyskids The ratio of male to female characters in movies has been exactly the same since 1946. So if you've ever had people say, you know, "It's better now, it's all changed, it's all different," it's not, it hasn't. Not yet. Geena Davis malescharacterpeople Even though I was 34 or 35 or something. I was like, “People can do that? Women can actually just say what they think?” It was an extraordinary experience to do that movie with her because every day was a lesson in how to just be yourself. Geena Davis being-yourselfpeoplethinking An eye-opening moment in my life, a very defining moment, was the first time I met Susan Sarandon [before shooting Thelma & Louise]. We were going to meet, just Ridley [Scott] and Susan and I, to go through the script and see if we had any thoughts or ideas. I was reading the script, and in the most girly way possible, meaning that if it was a line that could change or something different I'd like to see, I would think about each one and say, "Well, this one can wait till the set because I don't want to bring up too many things." Geena Davis girlyeyereading When I started out, maybe because I did Thelma & Louise early on - but people were always asking, "Are things better for women now?" I would say, "Yeah, I think so. It seems like it." Then a few years in, I started saying, "I think so. I'm getting a lot of good parts, but I don't know." Then eventually, I was like, "Google it. I don't know, but it doesn't seem great." Geena Davis peopleyearsthinking I really only did theater in school in college. I did summer stock a couple of times in the summer, and plays that the school put on. But I knew I wanted to be in movies. Geena Davis couplesummerschool I remember very distinctly being so tall I didn't fit sleeves, so I ended up modeling lingerie and bathing suits, sleeveless stuff, basically. I didn't have a good body, but I believed I knew how to stand or pose to mask it. Geena Davis lingeriebodystuff That's the really frustrating thing, but also the fixable thing. My theory why no one notices is that that's the [women's roles] ratio thing they grew up with. It's just been that way forever, so they don't see it. Geena Davis ratiosrolesforever One thing is a fairly simple and straightforward thing. I don't long to direct. I really want to get some good parts. Geena Davis simplewantlong When my friends and I would act out movies as kids, we'd play the guys' roles, since they had the most interesting things to do. Decades later, I can hardly believe my sons and daughter are seeing many of the same limited choices in current films. Geena Davis daughtermotherbelieve My whole theory about why I couldn’t find any creators who realized they were leaving out female characters is because they were raised on the same ratio. I just heard someone the other day call it either ‘smurfing’ a movie, which is when there’s one female character, or ‘minioning’ a movie, which is when there’s no female characters. Geena Davis femaleleavingcharacter I told my parents when I was three that I wanted to be in movies. I don't know what I saw at three years old that would make me decide that's a job and I want to have that job. But I was very confident, very sure that's what I wanted to do. I didn't do anything about it. I didn't prove it to myself or anything. I just knew. Geena Davis parentjobsyears I don't really bust anybody publicly. It's much more efficient if I can impact the creators. So that's what we do. It's had a great impact. Geena Davis efficientcreatorimpact It's really important for boys to see that girls take up half of the planet - which we do. Geena Davis girlimportantboys I drive [Susan Sarandon] nuts. I'm always talking about her being my hero. I'm sure she's probably sick of it. Geena Davis heronutstalking When I got pregnant, I told [Susan Sarandon ]. She said, "All right. I'm gonna tell you the thing to do when you're giving birth: Push like you're trying to win a prize, like you want to be the best patient he's ever had. He's going to give you a prize for winning that." So I did. [The doctor] said, "You are probably the best pusher I've had as a patient." Geena Davis doctorswinninggiving
