Hollywood has come a long way when it comes to including women on the set, but Sigourney Weaver says the industry still has a long way to go. The actress, who is currently in the middle of making several Avatar movies with James Cameron, says that there simply aren't enough women or minorities on the set, mostly because for that to happen the industry needs to attract new talent, not simply bring back the same old people. According to Weaver...
I've been working on Avatar 2 and 3 with James Cameron, and the base of his crew was so many guys he's worked with over many years. And there are a lot of young people involved. I think one of the frustrations is that there haven't been enough training programs to diversify the crew community, the cast community, but primarily there has to be a much bigger emphasis in the industry in bringing new people into the business. Even if all the crews wanted to bring in a more diverse crew, more women, minorities, that hasn't been prioritized.
Many women have spoken out in recent months regarding the state of Hollywood for women both in front of and behind the camera. There has been a clear call for more diversity among movie casts and crews but it seems that on the set of the first two Avatar sequels, Sigourney Weaver isn't really seeing it happen.
For what it's worth, it seems the reason for this isn't so much based in any sort of intentional avoidance today as it is a relic of an earlier era. James Cameron, like many filmmakers, has found various crewmembers, especially at the higher levels, that he prefers to work with, and as such, when he went to work on his newest project, he called them in., The thing is, these people are likely to have been working in Hollywood for decades, just like Cameron himself, and so they are more likely to be men because that was the status quo when Cameron began making a name for himself.
As Sigourney Weaver tells THR, for this to change, there needs to be an emphasis placed on bringing in new people and making sure those new people come from more diverse backgrounds. Then, 20 years from now, when a director brings in those key crew members he always works with, there's a better chance it will be a more diverse group.
Sigourney Weaver certainly isn't being super critical of Jamer Cameron. The pair have worked together before and clearly enjoy collaborating, but it shows how important the actress thinks the issue is that she's willing to speak out about it while in the middle of working on the set in question.
The first of the long-awaited Avatar sequels is currently set to arrive in December of 2020.
