Alicia Vikander Learned How to Shut Down Sexism From Julianne Moore
Where do we find ourselves a fairy godmother like that?
Hollywood veteran, style icon, and model of poise and grace Julianne Moore apparently also has a badass side to her. According to Alicia Vikander, star of the new Tomb Raider, it was Moore who showed her how to stand up for herself against crude comments and sexism on set.
In her cover story for Vogue’s March issue, Vikander recounts an incident when, as per the writer, “a man in a position of power made a cruel, loud joke” at her expense on the set of the 2014 film Seventh Son. “I was really embarrassed, and I would have just laughed it off,” Vikander says. “But Julianne turned to him and said, ‘If you ever do that again, I’m walking out of here and I’m not coming back.’ She was just, like, Don’t you fucking say that again. It showed me that she had the power. And that meant so much to me.”
Which is why standing up for other women in the industry and being a source of support to them is something that’s extremely important to Vikander. At this year’s Golden Globes, the Oscar-winner joined forces with Reese Witherspoon, Natalie Portman and other actresses on Time’s Up, the legal defense fund for women who have suffered sexual abuse or harassment.
“It was such a community that came together,” says Vikander. “I got on the phone with Natalie, whom I’d never met, and Reese. Suddenly I felt like I made a lot of new friends. One thing that really got to me in their initial email was the fact that—because women are not as well represented in all industries—we often have to fight for jobs. The competition is so tough that instead of getting to know each other and working together, we learned at an early age to compete for that single spot. So then to get on the carpet yesterday and feel like I had actually made friends with the other actresses and people I admire, it was really cool.”
Women supporting other women—what’s cooler than that?
