Elizabeth Banks was once told that she “can’t direct men.” The actress recently showed up on The Kelly Clarkson Show to promote her series, The Miniature Wife. In the interview, she shared how she dealt with misogyny during direction.

Elizabeth Banks says she ‘nailed’ directing Ray Liotta

On The Kelly Clarkson Show, Elizabeth Banks stated that she was told she “can’t direct men.” However, she proved everyone wrong. “I was literally told because I direct films that, ‘You can’t direct men. They won’t follow you,” she said. The Hunger Games star continued, “And then I directed Ray Liotta, who played Henry Hill in Goodfellas, and I think I nailed it. Check the list off. It’s all good.”

Clarkson asked if being told she can’t direct men made her determined to do that, and she fiercely agreed.

The 52-year-old also explained, “Despite me knowing that I’m in a great club, it’s a really small club, and it needs more representation.” She emphasized how the industry needs “more storytellers from different perspectives, angles.” Moreover, they “need more audiences to watch.” The mother of two continued, “I’m having a lot of fun making sure that women have a real sense of agency in whatever they’re doing, whatever stories I’m telling.”

In 2023, Banks expressed how she didn’t like Charlie’s Angels! being promoted as a feminist film. She shared with Rolling Stone how she was told that she is “the first female director of Charlie’s Angels!” As such, Banks went like, “They’ve only done a TV show and McG’s movies… what are you talking about?” She added, “‘There’s not this long legacy.’ I just loved the franchise.”

Banks stated, “There was not this gendered agenda from me.” She explained, “You realize how the media can frame something regardless of how you’ve framed it. I happen to be a woman who directed a Charlie’s Angels movie that happened to star three incredible women.” The filmmaker added one, “can’t control the media saying, ‘You’re a lady director, and that’s special!’ — which it is, but it’s not the only thing.”