Sally Hawkins has opened up about how “frustrated” she feels when women are perceived as “emotional” while pursuing their “passion”.
The actor, who stars as writer Philippa Langley in The Lost King, said that during her research into her character, she sometimes thought: “Are we still in the 1950s?”
The Lost King follows Langley’s work that led to the discovery and exhumation of King Richard III in 2012.
In an interview with the Guardian, Hawkins said: “If you’re a woman and you have a passion project, and you’re determined, like Philippa was, it’s still very easy for you to be dismissed as ‘emotional’.
“[It] frustrates the f*** out of me… She was smart, she was driven, she was right! And there was still a battle? How much do you have to prove?”
Langley attributes the discovery of Richard III’s body to a “feeling” she had while visiting a car park in Leicester, where the king was eventually found.
The amateur historian, who is now the president of the Scottish branch of the Richard III Society, said in 2013 that she went to Leicester while researching the king’s life for a screenplay she was working on.
“I wasn’t interested in Richard’s death, I was interested in his life, but finally I thought I should go to Leicester – and the first time I stood in that car park, the strangest feeling just washed over me,” she told the Guardian. “I thought, ‘I am standing on Richard’s grave’.”
The Lost King is directed by Stephen Frears and distributed by Warner Bros. The film has come under fire by the University of Leicester for its depiction of the university’s role during Langley’s research.
In a statement, the university said is “is our view that the portrayal of the University of Leicester’s role in the project is far removed from the accurate work that took place”.
After it first premiered at the Toronto Film Festival in September, the university’s former deputy registrar Richard Taylor has protested his depiction as the “villain” in the movie.
His character, played by Lee Ingleby, dismisses Langley’s project. In one scene, Langley tells him she has a strong “feeling” about the car park being an important archaeological site, to which the fictional Taylor replies: “A ‘feeling’ is what you get when you sit on a bus seat that’s still warm.”
The real Taylor told BBC Culture earlier this month that he is considering legal action against the filmmakers of The Lost King for his negative portrayal.
However, the team said in a statement: “The filmmakers believe the portrayal of the university is fair and accurate based on Philippa’s experience as corroborated by the filmmakers’ independent research.”
