Claire Foy Says She 'Viscerally Hates Strong Female Characters'

Claire Foy is speaking out about a double standard for male and female characters.

The 38-year-old actress co-stars alongside Rooney Mara in the film Women Talking which is released today (December 23).

When asked about the notion of “strong female characters,” Claire gave a blunt response. “I viscerally hate ‘strong female characters,’” she said.

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“It says, what, all other female characters are weak? You don’t separate men like that. They’re allowed to be unlikeable, likeable, strong, weak, scary, cuddly, all sorts of different things,” she told Empire.

Women Talking is about an isolated religious colony struggling to reconcile with their faith after a series of sexual assaults. The film had a therapist on set because of the difficult nature of the film.

“This is the first film I’ve made where women are strong while not in a domestic setting,” Claire noted.

“You usually see mothers, sisters, aunts, grandmas at the kitchen sink, in positions of importance. But this is basically the Senate, the Houses Of Parliament. These women are talking about the foundation of civilization, about how they navigate the world as people and what is right and wrong,” Claire said of the Women Talking characters.

Director Sarah Polley added, “We’ve been foils for so long in movies about men. I think a strong female character is just a fully realised human being.”

“It’s just sad how long we’ve gone with very few of those in movies, where we’re not a means to an end. A strong female character can take a million forms that don’t just look like a stereotypical strong man and a female body,” Sarah said.