Lead actress in the all-women cast of Ocean’s 8, Sandra Bullock says that she almost quit acting because she was put off by the blatant sexism in Hollywood. She revealed this in an interview with USA Today earlier this week, and ahead of the Ocean’s 8 premiere (June 5).
After several years on the Hollywood scene, the megastar said that she grew tired of being treated differently because she was a woman. “It was hard for me, because I walked with blinders on through life and got to where I (felt) like I was less than because I was a woman,” she told USA Today. “And that was a hard pill to swallow. I had a lot of sadness from that. I was like, ‘Wow, maybe I need to step out of here. Maybe I need to do something else for a living.’ And that was in the middle of when I was getting work — I didn’t want to be a part of that world where there was that experience,” she said.
Amidst the rising up of actresses in Hollywood against gender discrimination, huge pay disparities, and even sexual abuse spurred on by the #MeToo movement, Ocean’s 8 is a very timely and unifying display of female empowerment and solidarity.
During the interview, Bullock did not get into specifics about the sexist behavior she was subjected to, though she said it’s had a lasting effect.
