Discovering Peoples

Thank you for your article on screenwriter David Webb Peoples (“A Reluctant Hollywood Hero,” Oct. 5). I discovered things about him I hadn’t even suspected while working on “Unforgiven,” and I have to take major exception to one of his statements. It has to do with his surprising confession that “when it comes to writing female roles, I just don’t ‘get it.’ ”

Obviously, what he doesn’t “get” is the unique and powerful take he has on his female characters. Few writers operate in the fascinating gray areas of morality better than Peoples, that dangerous place where people are forced to duel with their own shadows. That is the strength of his male characters, and it is the distinctive gift he bestows upon his female characters and, in turn, upon the actresses fortunate enough to portray them.

The complexity with which he endowed my character of Strawberry Alice in “Unforgiven” was an insight for which I always will be grateful. As much as any of the male figures, she is the unforgiving force that propels the central tragedy of the film. Few writers have the will or skill to bring women to life with that kind of vengeful power.

With a few well-chosen phrases, Peoples can stimulate the actor’s imagination toward fleshing out her character. The position of actresses in Hollywood would be far less tenuous and their contribution at the box office far less occasional if more writers “got” women as well as he.

FRANCES FISHER

Manhattan Beach