Carla Gugino is done playing anyone’s games on set, especially when it comes to sexist directors.
The “Gerald’s Game” alum, frequent Mike Flanagan collaborator, and “Girls on the Bus” star reflected on moments in her career where she felt ignored by male directors. Gugino told Interview magazine while in discussion with “Game of Thrones” alum Lena Headey that she still suffers from “a little PTSD” over being railroaded on sets.
“I had an instance recently where I needed to assert something important to me and I hesitated because I wondered if it would be perceived as demanding,” Gugino said. “The difference at this age is that I will just push myself to do it. Ultimately, it was received positively. I still do have a little PTSD from a career full of instances where you’re acting with a male actor, and you say to the director, ‘Hey, what about if we try such and such?’ and the male director goes, ‘I don’t think so,’ and then, two minutes later, your fellow actor, who’s an advocate for you, says the exact same thing, and the director’s, ‘Great idea.’”
Gugino added of the enabling culture around male directors, “It’s actual insanity. This is when the family has an alcoholic and everybody is just like, ‘That person actually has the power.’ It’s in that vein. We’re going to pretend this is not crazy behavior.”
The actress recalled a turning point in her approach to acting after Monica Bellucci shared advice with her.
“I met Monica Bellucci who was amazing, and she said, ‘Look, just fucking ask for what you want. They’re going to call you a bitch regardless because you’re a woman.’ I thought that’s also true,” Gugino said. “There are still the residing boys club, always will be.”
Gugino recently told Buzzfeed that she was concerned about the 2017 Stephen King adaptation “Gerald’s Game” potentially ruining her career. “To come on to that role in that project, in which I was chained to a bed within that period of time, was a real risk. And I thought, ‘We’re either going to do something really special here, or this is the end of my career.’ You know what I mean?” Gugino said. “There’s no middle ground here. I’m so thankful that it was the former.”
The thriller helped launch Gugino’s scream queen iteration of her acting career, leading to roles in director Flanagan’s “Haunting of Hill House,” “The House of Usher,” and more.
