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"People have tried to write this story before. He kills it every time." This quote was once true for those who dared to investigate reports of alleged sexual harassment by big-time movie producer Harvey Weinstein. Yet, on October 5, 2017, The New York Times managed to publish a breakthrough story that exposed Weinstein's decades-long scheme to pay off the women he'd abused. In 2018, The New York Times won the Pulitzer Prize gold medal for public service for this story. This article wouldn't have been possible if it weren't for the two female reporters who spearheaded the investigation--Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey. Now, nearly five years later, Universal Pictures is bringing the incredible story of the exposé to screens with She Said.
German director Maria Schrader, who won a Primetime Emmy Award in 2020 for her Netflix film Unorthodox, directs the upcoming American drama. She Said follows the personal and professional lives of Kantor and Twohey, from the beginning of their work on the Weinstein investigation and toward its completion. The film turns the lens onto these two women, who persevered in their efforts to get Weinstein's victims to go on the record, despite receiving serious threats should they publish the story.
What's the True Story Behind She Said?
In October 2017, Kantor and Twohey reported how Harvey Weinstein had allegedly sexually harassed, intimidated, abused, and raped women for at least thirty years. Using his position of power as a film producer, he'd subjected women to his abuse and then coerced those women to remain silent on what they had suffered. Over 80 women accused him of sexual harassment and/or rape. He was arrested in May 2018. Between February and March 2020, he was found guilty of rape and a criminal sexual act and sentenced to 23 years in prison.
On September 10, 2019, Penguin Press published the nonfiction book She Said: Breaking the Sexual Harassment Story That Helped Ignite a Movement. Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey wrote the book to recount the immense amount of work that went into the report that exposed Harvey Weinstein's attempts to pay off the women he'd assaulted. The book, on which the She Said film is based, details the investigative process and the challenges the reporters encountered. These challenges included defining sexual harassment and convincing women, who'd been intimidated into silence, to go on the record. Kantor and Twohey also faced formidable obstacles from the gatekeepers within Hollywood who made every step of the investigation difficult and near-impossible. Ultimately, the book focuses on the gritty, real work that goes into destabilizing the systems that protect predators like Weinstein.
Watch the She Said Trailer Now
Universal Pictures dropped the trailer for She Said on July 14, just four months prior to the film's release. View it here below.
She Said gives viewers an insider's perspective into the offices of The New York Times, where reporters are tasked with investigating the pervasiveness of sexual harassment in workplaces. Jodi Kantor quickly discovers that Hollywood is heavily stained with corruption. As she interviews women but they refuse to go on the record and thereby contribute to exposing Harvey Weinstein, she reaches out to Megan Twohey. Kantor and Twohey join forces to reach out to the women who have been silenced by Weinstein. In doing this, they use all their talents, courage, and resources to blow down the house of cards that is the system perpetuating abuse and protecting abusers. All the while, Weinstein has his own team pulling strings to ensure the story doesn't get out.
What Is the Release Date of She Said?
She Said is scheduled to be released in theaters on November 18, 2022.
Who Is in the Cast of She Said?
Playing Jodi Kantor is American actress Zoe Kazan. Kazan's career started in 2003 with her role as lead love interest Samantha in Max Borenstein's film Swordswallowers and Thin Men. She played supporting roles in Fracture (2007), Me and Orson Welles (2008), and Revolutionary Road (2008). In 2009, she took lead as Ivy, a college girl with epilepsy, in the indie film The Exploding Girl, written and directed by Bradley Rust Gray. She went on to carry supporting to main roles in romantic comedies, such as I Hate Valentine's Day (2009), Happythankyoumoreplease (2010), Ruby Sparks (2012), and The Pretty One (2013). She co-starred with Daniel Radcliffe in the award-winning rom-com What If (aka The F Word), directed by Michael Dowse. In 2017, she co-led the rom-com The Big Sick with Kumail Nanjiani, who also helped write the Academy Award-nominated screenplay. She recently starred in the 2019 drama The Kindness of Strangers, the 2020 alternate-history drama miniseries The Plot Against America, and the 2021 Netflix miniseries Clickbait.
British actress Carey Mulligan is Megan Twohey. Mulligan's career started in the mid-2000s with her role of Kitty Bennet in Pride and Prejudice, directed by Joe Wright. She made a name for herself in period pieces, starting with BBC's miniseries Bleak House (2005) and the British TV film Northanger Abbey (2007). She played Jenny in the 2009 Academy Award-nominated drama An Education, which was directed by Lone Scherfig. In 2010's Never Let Me Go, directed by Mark Romanek, she portrayed Kathy in the film's adaptation of Kazuo Ishiguro's novel of the same name. She later played the iconic and elusive Daisy Buchanan alongside Leonardo DiCaprio's Jay Gatsby in the 2013 award-winning The Great Gatsby, directed by Baz Luhrmann. Her career in historical films continued with Far from the Madding Crowd (2015), Suffragette (2015), Mudbound (2017), and most recently, The Dig (2021). She also recently led Emerald Fennell's feature directorial debut, Promising Young Woman, which won an Academy Award, BAFTA, Critics' Choice Award, and Writers' Guild Award for Best Original Screenplay.
Playing Rebecca Corbett, NYT editor, is Patricia Clarkson. The American actress first appeared on-screen in the 1980s with one-episode roles in television shows. Her first movie role was that of Kevin Costner's Eliot Ness's wife in the 1987 crime drama The Untouchables, directed by Brian De Palma. She starred in various TV movies into the 90s, such as The Old Man and the Sea (1990), Legacy of Lies (1992), and London Suite (1996). She co-led the 1995 American Western Civil War film, Pharoah's Army (directed by Robby Henson), with Chris Cooper. In 1999, she starred as Melinda Moores in the Academy Award-nominated film The Green Mile, directed by Frank Darabont. She brought her talents to the horror genre with the 2001 Wendigo, directed by Larry Fessenden, and to comedy in The Station Agent, directed by BAFTA Award-winning director Tom McCarthy. She went on to star in multiple rom-coms and dramas, including Blind Date (2007), Elegy (2008), Easy A (2010), and The Bookshop (2017). She starred in The Maze Runner franchise as WCKD official Ava Paige throughout all three films. Recently, she's held prominent roles in the television series Sharp Objects (2018), House of Cards (2013-2018), and State of the Union (2022).
Andre Braugher is Dean Baquet, executive editor of The New York Times. Braugher first appeared in Detective Kojak TV films, beginning in 1989, as Detective Winston Blake. He continued work in television films before starring in the award-nominated 1998 romantic fantasy City of Angels, directed by Brad Silberling. He's known for his work in the series Homicide: Life on the Street as Frank Pembleton, and he reprised this role for the 2000 movie Homicide: The Movie. He's also known for playing Satch DeLeon in the 2000 film Frequency, directed by Gregory Hoblit. Television shows include Gideon's Crossing (2000-2001), Hack (2002-2004), and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (1999-Present). He's recently helped lead the comedy series Brooklyn Nine-Nine as Captain Raymond Holt across the show's eight seasons.
Portraying Zelda Perkins, the young assistant who bravely stood up against Weinstein, is Samantha Morton. The English actress began her work in the 1990s with television series and films before making her drama feature film debut with the 1997 Carine Adler-directed film Under the Skin. She's known for playing Agatha Lively in the 2002 Minority Report, directed by Steven Spielberg, and voicing Sola in the 2012 Disney film John Carter, directed by Andrew Stanton. She recently starred in the Hulu series Harlots as Margaret Wells and in The Walking Dead franchise as Alpha. Alongside She Said, she is slated to appear in Darren Aronofsky's upcoming film The Whale and the upcoming Starz show The Serpent Queen.
Mike Houston plays Harvey Weinstein. He's known for playing CO Lee Dixon in Orange Is the New Black (2013-2019). He also worked on shows like Boardwalk Empire (2010-2014), Sneaky Pete (2015-2019), and The Blacklist (2013-Present).