Gloria Steinem to be played by Carey Mulligan and Julianne Moore
Tuesday, November 7, 2017 at 4:00PM by Murtada
2018 might become the year of Gloria Steinem at the movies. We’ve already told you about Dee Rees’ plans to make a film about the feminist movement’s fight to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment, An Uncivil War. The project has lead parts for Steinem, activist Flo Kennedy and fundamentalist organizer Phyllis Schlafly. Rees has decided to continue collaborating with her Mudbound star Carey Mulligan and cast her as Steinem.
Director Julie Taymor (Frida, Across the Universe) and Playwright Sarah Ruhl will adapt Steinem’s memoir My Life on The Road. Their choice for the lead part is Julianne Moore. It looks like the Rees/Mulligan project will go before the cameras first, in March 2018. The Taymor/Moore film is still at the writing stage.
There is no reason why both movies could not be successful as they're telling different stories. One is about a particular moment in time with Steinem as one of three protagonists. The other centers squarely on her and is based on her memoir. Which of the two interests you more and why?
Reader Comments (12)
The stalled made for HBO version Clooney is producing starring Tomei as Steinem.
Hmm. My gut reaction was to prefer the Mulligan/Rees because I love both of their work it's an ensemble and promises to be intersectional. But then again Taymor has such a unique vision as well. Sooo Conflicted. I'll just choose to be equally excited and watch them both.
Who is playing Helen Reddy?
I like the way Mulligan is re handling her career lately.
Moore has the more "lived in" face and the acting chops to go with it.
Mulligan is a good enough actress, but I don't see the fire in her performances up to this point.
Moment in time biopics are always more interesting than cradle-to-the-grave biopics, which I think what the Moore version is aiming for.
In these cases there's always a winner and a loser. I can't help but think of Toby Jones, who was caught in this trap not once, but twice. He lost to Philip Seymour Hoffman the Truman Capote "duel" and he... tied? with Anthony Hopkins when they both played Alfred Hitchcock.
In this particular case, it's only logical that Moore and Mulligan will play Steinem in different periods in her life. I wish them well and look forward to both films.
I'm interested in Taymor's project because Moore is the superior actress. Sorry, Carey, she's superior to nearly everyone.
Can I cheat and say... both? Taymor is an erratic genius, and the thought of her and Moore collaborating is irresistible. But I agree with MDA, biopics are always much more powerful focusing on an intensely formative or important experience, eg Lincoln, Selma, and the ERA fight could be a real rollercoaster. VERY interested in who gets cast as Schlafly....
Gloria Steinem has a gift for saying clearly what you've been thinking vaguely but can't quite articulate.
Both directors on these projects are great, and I too wish them both well. Moore and Mulligan are both good actresses, but neither have that cheerful rabble rousing and fire that I associate with Steinem.
Sometimes I regret that people who are forces for change are treated as colourful characters rather than part of an irresistible and necessary movement.
Hooray. I hope neither filmmaker (or actress) sands off the rough edges of Steinem's complicated history: that she has been a (politically) partisan figure as often as she has been a (advocacy) principled one—just as Schlafly, love her or (as many do) hate her, isn't a one-note, contradictory-free gargoyle in her own right. Biopics like this should explore the real nuances of characterizations. otherwise why bother? Simply read their self-serving autobiographies, speeches, etc.
Why do I have to choose? BOTH, please...