Jessica Chastain, Busy Philipps celebrate at Marie Claire’s Change Makers event
One of the cover stars for Marie Claire’s Change Makers issue, Jessica Chastain said she “absolutely” saw changes ahead for women — and not just in the field of entertainment.
“When you see how many women just ran for office, how many women are serving our country, you know this is an exciting time and an exciting place to be,” said the twice Oscar-nominated actress. “Women are definitely taking a step forward, and we are a force to contend with.”
The event
Marie Claire’s Tuesday cocktail party, held with Time’s Up Entertainment, an affiliate of the Time’s Up coalition, celebrated the women shaping the future of the entertainment industry. Many are featured in the magazine’s April issue.
The crowd
Editor in Chief Anne Fulenwider welcomed the magazine’s change-makers and other guests, including actors Nina Dobrev, Nikki Reed, Lindsey Stirling, Busy Philipps, Josie Totah, Francia Raisa, Olga Segura, Karla Souza and Aisha Dee; singer-songwriter Leona Lewis; Jill Soloway, Lisa Cortes, Dana Belcastro, Janet Mock, Yolanda Cochran, Sara Fischer, Angela Robinson and Naomi Scott; Sundance CEO Keri Putnam; and Time’s Up executive director Nithya Raman.
The scene
At Hills Penthouse in West Hollywood, overlooking a panoramic view of Los Angeles and neighboring communities, more than 150 by-invitation guests sipped wine and sampled hors d’oeuvres, and on occasion, talk turned to today’s issues.
In a quiet corner, Nina Dobrev told us she had just come from South by Southwest in Austin, Texas, where her latest movie, “Run This Town,” premiered. “I hadn’t seen the film yet and I was a little nervous, because you never know when you’re shooting a scene what’s going to make it into the movie and what’s not,” she said. “I left the theater feeling good because the storyline that was most important to me was there — the storyline involving sexual harassment in the workplace — and how my character dealt with it and confronted that adversity head on.”
Dobrev, star of the CBS sitcom “The Fam,” then added, “It’s so important now more than ever to keep telling these stories and to keep that conversation going so that change will happen.”
The quote
“There’s a revolution going on,” Fulenwider said. “We really took note last January when Time’s Up announced itself at the Golden Globes. America has always been about powerful women, women making change, women taking action, but this is like nothing we’ve seen before — not in my lifetime.”
Fulenwider continued, “There’s a generation of women out there who expect to be represented, to get equal pay. They have been asking to be heard, frankly in a way my generation didn’t. We took it on the nose and kept going, but this generation isn’t going to stand for it. ... There are always going to be naysayers — and haters gonna hate — but I am optimistic about the future.”
