In the new issue of British GQ magazine, Oscar award-winning actress Charlize Theron commented that because there are "no meaty roles" for "pretty people".
"I've been in the room, and pretty people get turned away first," she said.
The interview touched on wider aspects of gender disparity in Hollywood, but the "pretty people" remark has dominated headlines, and elicited little sympathy for the actress on social media.
Actress Heather Matarazzo, best known for her roles in The Princess Diaries and cult faves Welcome To The Dollhouse and The Hairy Bird, was quick to contradict Theron on Twitter:
Last year, Matarazzo penned an essay entitled 'What The Fuck Is "Fuckable"' in which she recounts being let go from a film project to which she had been attached for two years, because producers didn't think she was "fuckable":
"He looked me dead in the eyes and said “They say you’re not fuckable.” Well, fuck me. Even as I write this, I can still feel the pain, shame, and humiliation that came over me in that moment," she wrote. "This is a part that I had been so excited to play."
The essay details the effect that such criticism had on her, the ways in which it has affected her career, and her journey to find confidence in an industry that is anything but encouraging.
Matarazzo went on to tweet that perhaps Theron should read her essay.
And as for whether she lets people bring her down now?
Source: Sony Picture Classics
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