The 'Gossip Girl' star opens up in a new interview about the inherent sexism in what roles women and men are allowed to play.
Blake Lively knows her gender can sometimes limit the roles she can play.
The All I See Is You star sat down for Vanity Fair's "The Limelight" podcast, where she illustrated the inherent sexism in Hollywood casting by pointing out the parts her husband can do vs. the "likability" she and other women have to maintain.
“I mean, my husband plays a**holes [but], you go, ‘He’s so charming.’ Because he is likable . . . or you look at Harrison Ford as Han Solo and he’s like, ‘Get over here, sweetheart,’ and you just sort of [think], ‘Whoo, it’s so exciting and romantic and titillating.’ It’s because he’s charming and he’s loving and he’s not some sexist a**hole," the 30-year-old actress reasoned. "But, you don’t see that and think, ‘Oh, that guy’s not likable.’"
"But you would read on a page and you just know, 'Oh, it’s a man, he’ll be charming,'" she added. But if you read that on a page as a woman, they would never let you say that line because the note would always be, 'Oh, you just have to make sure she’s likable.'"
Lively said that she and the filmmakers tried to keep that double standard in mind with regard to her upcoming film, The Rhythm Section, where she plays a prostitute battling drug addiction.
"I play a heroin-addicted prostitute. Going back to the likable thing ... you always see that thing in movies where if a woman is a prostitute or a sex worker, you always think, ‘I don't want the guys to be grossed out by her,'" she said. "We have to still make her kind of sexy ... tragically sexy, but you know, music video."
"If you drive down skid row that's not what you see. That's not the truth," she continued. "So it's really important to us to show a woman who society has written off, and society has forgotten about.”
Meanwhile, Reynolds praised his wife back in July at a junket for his film, The Hitman's Bodyguard, calling out the notion that she might need his help to prepare for more physical roles.
"My wife can train and kick a** all on her lonesome," Reynolds told ET. "She don't need me for any of that."
With how much respect the couple has for one another, it's no surprise that their date nights are filled with lots of affection!
Watch the video below for their recent evening out.
