Elizabeth Banks Slams Steven Spielberg For Lack Of Female Leads

Actress Elizabeth Banks bashed legendary director Steven Spielberg for not featuring female leads in his movies, on Tuesday.

Accepting the Crystal Award for excellence in features at the Women in Film Crystal + Lucy Awards, Banks said, “I went to Indiana Jones and Jaws and every movie Steven Spielberg ever made, and by the way, he’s never made a movie with a female lead. Sorry, Steven. I don’t mean to call your a** out but it’s true,” said Banks.

While Banks isn’t 100 percent correct – Spielberg directed The Color Purple and The Sugarland Express – only two of his 30 films feature a female lead.

Banks went on to mention that she often tries to take her sons to see movies featuring strong female leads and encouraged parents at the the Beverly Hills Hotel event to do the same.

“Buy a f***ing ticking to a movie with a woman, take [your children], give them the experience of seeing amazing women on film.”

“I directed one movie. I’m really glad to be up here and getting an award, but it’s really about expanding the roles of women in this industry,” Banks said.

Spielberg has been called out in the past for his exclusion of female leads – French actress Juliette Binoche revealed that she had personally spoken to the director about the issue last year. Spielberg has also gotten flak for his portrayal of female characters in the original Indiana Jones trilogy, in which, Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford) allows three different, stereotypical women to tag along on his adventures, squealing all the way.

While Spielberg may never match the the 28 male-driven movies with female-driven ones, he is currently filming a movie titled The Papers. The new movie stars Meryl Streep as Kay Graham, the first female major newspaper publisher, who published the Pentagon Papers while working at the Washington Post. The film also stars Carrie Coon, and Allison Brie.

Banks, who was honored for directing Pitch Perfect 2, is currently preparing to direct and produce the Charlie’s Angels reboot, expected to be released in 2019.