Bow down to these screen queens! From superhero epics and butt-kicking thrillers to hotly anticipated prequels and sequels, badass women rule at the box office this season.
Summer Movie Guide: ‘Ocean’s 8,’ ‘Solo: A Star Wars Story,’ ‘Crazy Rich Asians’ and More!
In a galaxy far, far away, Thandie Newton is breaking down walls: She’s the first woman of color to have a lead role in Star Wars. It’s a mission she never thought would happen. “Growing up in the U.K., I can’t tell you what it meant to see people that looked like me on screen. It was so rare,” she recalls to Us. “Often in subservient positions or comic roles. I still adored movies, but the subliminal message was that I didn’t belong in that world, and neither did other people of color.” Those thoughts are no longer. “Knowing what it means for young fans, who will always believe that their brown sisters, mothers, daughters are cool enough, good enough to be part of the greatest film franchise,” Newton raves, “it makes me feel relieved and deeply proud.”
Needless to say, the heist flick’s ensemble cast became, well, as thick as thieves on set. Every day on set with Sandra Bullock, Cate Blanchett, Rihanna, Mindy Kaling, Anne Hathaway and other A-list actresses “was an empowering and inspiring experience filled with rampant laughter,” says newcomer Awkwafina, who plays an expert pickpocket. “We became a family quick. Each one of us are strong women, but together, we become undefeatable.” Yes, they win at stealing jewels — but also at breaking it down. “A giant dance circle formed as we called wrap,” the rapper tells Us. “I have to give Sarah Paulson the award for best set dancer — and jokester.”
They can’t escape being “it.” Based on a true story (really!), the comedy follows a group of childhood best friends — played by Jeremy Renner and Jon Hamm, among others — as they compete in their 30th annual game of cutthroat tag. Naturally, the cast got caught up in the sport. “Renner did break his wrist and elbow,” says Leslie Bibb, who stars as his bride. “He sent me a photo from the hospital while they fitted him with removable casts on both arms.” The injury simply sealed her drive to be the real-life winner, she jokes: “I am pretty competitive and might give them a run for their money.”
Here’s a pro tip from Netflix’s new rom-com: Find your boss a date and score more free time for yourself. At least that’s the MO of Zoey Deutch’s overworked character. In real life, she cops to being far less successful. “Every time I’ve set people up it’s ended in flames,” she tells Us. “My matchmaking skills thus far are pretty damn bad and I should most certainly retire.” Instead, she focuses on her strengths, like Cards Against Humanity. “It’s the only game I’ve ever won,” she says. “I have a lot of pride in my skills there.”
Picture Friends’ Ross and Rachel. That gray area — were they on a break?! — is where Bryce Dallas Howard’s Claire and Chris Pratt’s Owen stand when the dinosaur caper returns. “You get the sense that they tried it,” Howard tells Us, “but it didn’t work out, in a way that makes things still unresolved.” They’ll have to put their issues aside to once more save the reptiles, now threatened by an erupting volcano. Making matters worse: a possible love triangle created by Jeff Goldblum’s overconfident Dr. Ian Malcolm. Teases the actress, “I love that idea!”
Evangeline Lilly has been waiting for her chance to suit up. As a kid, “I used to fantasize about being Catwoman — the Michelle Pfeiffer version, naturally,” says the actress, who will now star as superhero The Wasp. “The fantasy fulfillment is not lost on me. I feel strong.” That power apparently extends to her 6-year-old son Kahekili (with love Norman Kali). On set, the tot proclaimed, “I’m The Wasp!” she recalls. “I felt so incredibly proud that any little boy was pretending to be a female superhero, let alone my son, , pretending to be me. Usually mom is the least cool person.”
As a mom herself, Neve Campbell felt the pain of her character. Trapped with her kids on the, yes, 240th floor of a burning building in the action adventure, her protective instincts kick in. “All mothers have an innate lioness inside when we even imagine harm coming to our children,” says the actress, mom to son Caspian, 5 (with actor love JJ Feild). “Motherhood is intense.” Also extreme, in another sense: costar Dwayne Johnson’s gym routine. “I considered working out with Dwayne,” she jokes, “but I didn’t want to intimidate him.”
Middle school “is a really weird time,” explains Elsie Fisher. “You’re still very much a kid. You’re starting to become an adult. But you’re trapped in a kid’s body. Everyone wants to act older than they are.” That awkwardness is deftly captured in the coming-of-age flick, which follows Kayla through her final week of a disastrous year. “This taught me that we’re not alone in our experiences,” confesses the teen, who shot the dramedy right after finishing eighth grade herself. “Throughout my entire life, I’ve been a loner. But this showed me that we’re all weirdos.”
She had to draw the line somewhere. Though Rebecca Ferguson started training for a motorbike license on her own, she couldn’t bring herself to hop on for a ride in the sixth installment of Tom Cruise’s action franchise. “The stunts are so dangerous,” she admits, praising her double, Jenny Tinmouth. “I would never try to do what she does so immaculately!” Still, rogue agent Ilsa’s butt-kicking is all her. “I leave the studio laughing at aching muscles I didn’t know existed!” she says. “Call me crazy, but I love the feeling of sore muscles.”
How hard could it be to get on the big screen? Pretty darn hard, as the animated superheroes learn when they discover other comic book figures are Hollywood superstars. Enter Kristen Bell’s Jade, a ruthless film director. “She’s hungry for power and success,” Bell tells Us. “There are so many different women in the world, not all are meek and diminutive. I’m excited to play a woman who knows who she is and what she wants.” Given powers of her own, Bell would take a page from Jade’s playbook. Adds the star, “I’d like the power of persuasion. I feel it would yield the best results.”
Glenn Close saw the plot of her latest film unfold decades before the script was developed. In the ‘90s-set drama, she plays ever-faithful Joan, who drops her own career to support her author husband. “My mother was of Joan’s generation — before feminism,” Close tells Us. “I watched her defer to my father like so many other women who felt they could only contribute through their husbands.” She hopes it’s a thing of the past. “We are in a time of great unrest between the sexes,” the icon says. “Films like The Wife will help keep the conversation going. I hope it will be an agent for change.”
Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned by an undercover agent. Right? After it happens to Mila Kunis’ Audrey, she and best friend Morgan (Kate McKinnon) suddenly realize they’re wrapped up in an international mess. Cue the chaos on and off screen, says writer-director Susanna Fogel: “The moments where the characters are supposed to be cracking each other up became raucous. The line between acting and reality became blurred!” Jokes aside, the buddy comedy created a serious friendship. In between takes, Kunis and McKinnon “kept whispering compliments to one another,” adds Fogel. “My editor found the sound bite later and we found it really touching.”
Lauren Cohan could hardly catch her breath. Filming the spy thriller — also starring Mark Wahlberg and Ronda Rousey — at 8,000 feet above sea level, “I felt like walking to get coffee was training!” the Walking Dead star tells Us. “Kidding, kind of.” Acclimating wasn’t the only hurdle, though. After she upped her cardio and weight exercises, she moved on to intensive weapons instruction and fight choreography with Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman trainer. “I could honestly have done that full time,” she says. “Is practicing a job? Can it be?”
After reading just the prologue of Kevin Kwan’s titular bestseller, Michelle Yeoh was in to play sassy matriarch Eleanor. “She is the tiger mom, the dragon lady loved and feared by all,” she says. “One look is enough for the toughest to quake in their shoes.” Which is exactly Eleanor’s goal when her son surprises the family by bringing his American-born Chinese girlfriend home to Singapore. “Eleanor’s motives are pure,” says Yeoh. “It’s all about protecting her son, the family and its reputation. There are responsibilities that come with wealth.”
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