Greta Gerwig, who wrote and directed the best-reviewed film ever on Rotten Tomatoes, Lady Bird, sat down for a Vanity Fair cover story that delved into the responsibility she felt as a woman in the directors chair.
As a first-time director, she leaned on what she'd observed as an actor and in other roles on film sets over the past ten years. She delved into the process, telling the publication that it came from feeling extra responsible as a woman director.
“You do think, ‘If they have a bad experience with me, if I don’t know what I’m doing, if I’m unprepared, or if I don’t show up for this with everything I’ve got, it’s going to make it that much harder for the next woman,’” Gerwig said.
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Gerwig also told Vanity Fair she plans to continue writing and directing, and that she is currently working on a script. She'd also like to help other women directors by launching her own production company. “It’s something I would actually like to figure out how to do, and also produce young female filmmakers and give them support and guidance and find their voices and be able to get them on their way.”
Recently asked to be a member of the Academy of Arts and Sciences, Gerwig confessed to the publication she's been throwing Oscar parties her whole life. “So to be an Academy member was mind-blowing,” Gerwig said. “When someone says, ‘I’d like to thank the Academy,’ inherently I am included in that group. It’s a sense of belonging.”
Lady Bird is the coming of age story of California teen who goes by the name "Lady Bird." She's eager to leave her small town and start afresh on the East Coast, but poor grades prevent her from applying to colleges like Harvard and Yale. However, she believes, contrary to her mother, played by Laurie Metcalf, that if she makes it back east somehow, her life will finally be full of art and culture.
The film, which is set in 2002 and 2003, resonates strongly with both critics and audiences alike. Lady Bird just became the highest-rated film ever on Rotten Tomatoes and picked up the Best Picture award by the New York Film Critics Circle.