Debra Winger Dragged Madonna’s Acting And Said #MeToo Has Gone “Ridiculously Too Far”
Today is Madonna’s birthday and I’m sure she’s enjoying all the birthday well-wishes rolling in from fans and industry luminaries alike. So let’s give her the gift of letting her continue to believe that the reason A League of Their Own is trending on Twitter is because of her iconic performance in that film is being celebrated and not because the notoriously salty Debra Winger has told The Telegraph that she walked away from the movie upon hearing that Madonna had been cast. In the same interview, Debra also let HBO know she’s gunning for a role in the next season of The White Lotus by saying that as “the mother of three young white males” #MeToo has gone “ridiculously too far.” That’s method, babies. Something Madonna wouldn’t know about given that, according to Debra, “her acting career has spoken for itself.”
Yes, Debra has something to promote. She didn’t just wake up one morning and ask her assistant to get chaos on the phone for no good reason. According to Page Six, Debra’s in a new Apple + show Mr. Corman. So she gave an interview to The Telegraph where she explained why she gave up the leading role of Dottie in ALOTO, which was ultimately played by Geena Davis, even though she had trained for months in preparation. Debra’s answer in one word? Madonna.
Oscar-nominated actress Debra Winger quit the 1992 movie “A League of Their Own” because Madonna was cast in the women’s baseball dramedy.
Serious actress Winger even trained with the Chicago Cubs for three months, but when director Penny Marshall cast Madonna, Winger felt Marshall was making fluff — “an Elvis film.”
“The studio agreed with me because it was the only time I ever collected a pay-or-play on my contract. In other words, I collected my pay even though I did not play, and that’s very hard to get in a court,” she told the Telegraph.
She added, “As entertaining as [the finished film] was, you don’t walk away going, ‘Wow, those women did that.’ You kind of go, ‘Is that true?’”
She said the other stars didn’t train as much as she did, but Davis “did OK.”
High praise indeed! I’m sure Geena rushed out this morning to grab a print edition of this glowing review so she can have it framed to hang in her trophy room. However, Debra didn’t have any such terms of endearment to describe Madonna’s performance. She simply asked that we look at the material.
“I certainly don’t begrudge any of them,” said Winger, 66.
As far as Madonna’s performance? “I think [her] acting career has spoken for itself,” Winger reportedly said.
Debra’s going to eat those words once she sees Madonna in the role she was born to play as Madonna in Madonna: The Madonna Story written and directed by Madonna when it eventually comes out! As for her comments on #MeToo, Debra says things have gone too far and she’s worried there might not be room in the industry for her three white male sons? I think? Debra shares a 34-year-old, Noah Hutton, with ex-husband Timothy Hutton and a 24-year-old son, Gideon Babe Ruth Howard, with her current husband Arliss Howard. She is also stepmom to Arliss’ 34-year-old son Sam Howard. (via The Daily Mail)
‘I don’t feel like it’s settled yet. [The industry] is still in upheaval,’ she said. ‘The plates are shifting. In some ways, it’s pulled ridiculously too far.
‘Part of it is that I’m the mother of three young white males, so I’m looking at things that they’re experiencing, and things that my girlfriends of all different backgrounds are experiencing [and] it hasn’t quite found its steady point yet where there’s room for everybody.’
She added: ‘I’m a bad one to ask. I always found my way. Is that privilege? It didn’t feel like it at the time, because I felt like I was in very abusive situations, but it was my responsibility to buck up, get strong.’
So buck up all you whiners! If fine well-connected white men like Debra’s boys are going to get a fair shake in the industry, it’s going to require sacrifices from everyone.
Pic: Wenn.com