Quote of the Day: Zoey Deutch on the Lack of Complex Film Roles for Women
In her new movie, “Flower,” Zoey Deutch portrays an opportunistic, morally ambiguous teen who turns to vigilantism to take down a sex offender. Deutch’s Erica isn’t the usual teen protagonist, nor is she a female character we see much of in film. And, per an interview with Vulture, that’s exactly why Deutch wanted to be a part of “Flower” in the first place.
“I felt at times that I was on the sidelines watching dudes play these types of parts,” she said of her character. Before booking “Flower” she hadn’t had many meaty roles — she was usually the requisite woman in a man’s story. “I have played one-dimensional female characters in male-driven comedies,” the “Before I Fall” actress confessed. “I have to say, it is the hardest thing as an actor that I have yet to do.”
And Deutch hasn’t just had to cope with a lack of nuanced roles. She also realized that the people making movies — so, usually straight white men — are often uninterested in depicting complex women on-screen. “You need everybody onboard to create this multidimensional human being, and that is a truly difficult thing to do, near-to-impossible to make work, and mostly because they don’t want you to make it work,” she explained.
Still, Deutch was confident she could pull off an anti-hero such as Erica. “It is funny when people are like, ‘I had no idea you had this in you,’ and I’m like, I did! I never questioned it!”
Deutch does however acknowledge that misogyny is pervasive, and something she’s unwittingly internalized. She, too, has underestimated what women can do in film. “‘mother!’ was one of my favorite movies of the year, and I was so blown away by Jennifer Lawrence’s performance, and I personally think she’s the greatest actress of our generation, and even then, I was like, ‘I had no idea she could do that!’ Deutch recalled. “Of course she could do that, she’s Jennifer Lawrence, she can do anything! So I’m not judging people by their reaction [to my work in ‘Flower’].”
“The Disaster Artist,” “Rebel in the Rye,” and “Everybody Wants Some!!” are among Deutch’s credits. She’ll be seen next in post-college comedy “The Year of Spectacular Men” — directed by her mother, Lea Thompson, and written and toplined by her sister, Madelyn Deutch — matchmaking-workplace comedy “Set It Up,” and “Richard Says Goodbye,” which centers on a dying professor.
“Flower” opens today, March 16.
