Jessica Chastain: ‘Audiences need more female movie critics’

"There's been so much discussion about the wage gap in all industries - but what people aren't really talking about right now is critics."

Jessica Chastain has denounced the lack of female film critics. While promoting her latest film Miss Sloane, the actress told The Guardian that she believes film critics have a huge influence on movie audiences. "Critics are the one who suggest to an audience what stories are valuable and worthwhile and when you have 90 per cent of film critics as male, and perhaps not able to review a film from a gender-neutral point of view, we need to understand that we need more female critics to let women and men know that stories about women are just as interesting as stories about men," she said. She also said that she aims to choose unconventional film roles. "What I look for in a story is something that is shattering stereotypes - I'm not very interested in a stereotype for anyone. "I'm looking for an opportunity for people that the film industry has ignored, stories about women in particular. I'm looking for trailblazers." This isn't the first time Jessica, an ardent feminist, has spoken out about gender diversity. In a 2015 essay on women in the film industry for The Hollywood Reporter, she wrote; "I just know that when you have a set with predominantly one gender, whether it be all men or all women, it's not going to be a healthy place." Watch the full interview here.