The hit film “Bombshell” featuring Charlize Theron, Nicole Kidman and Margot Robbie is the real story of the women at Fox News who exposed CEO Roger Ailes and a couple more men for sexual harassment. Not only that the film shines through its breathtaking acting of this amazing cast, but it is also the first major film about the #MeToo movement.
#MeToo
Even though the phrase “Me Too” appeared in 2006 in social media, used by activist Tarana Burke, the movement started only in 2017 when Harvey Weinstein was exposed as a sexual abuser. A huge wave of celebrities stood up then, talking about their experience of harassment. From Alyssa Milano to Uma Thurman, Jennifer Lawrence and Gwyneth Paltrow, the #MeToo movement started to grow.
To be honest, I have been waiting for a film about this empowering movement amongst women, that spread beyond Hollywood. Women all over the world started sharing their unique story, because everyone has a #MeToo story. No matter the level of power and the stake in the game, most women have been at a certain moment in their life in a similar situation.
Following the Stories of Megyn Kelly and Gretchen Carlson
The stories of Megyn Kelly and Gretchen Carlson are the engines of “Bombshell.” Gretchen, played by Nicole Kidman, is actually the one who started the entire lawsuit against Roger Ailes. She knew that other women will follow as everyone knew what was going on. She was right. More than 20 women publicly accused Ailes of sexual harassment, including Megyn Kelly.
The film begins with the famous feud between Megyn Kelly and Trump, when she went after Trump at the first Republican presidential debate in 2015 saying “You’ve called women you don’t like fat pigs, dogs, slobs and disgusting animals.” This made Trump attacking her on Twitter and continuing to attack her in the following weeks. Roger Ailes was also not pleased at all with Megyn’s daring attitude and made her release a statement saying she doesn’t want to start any war with Trump.
Complete Transformations
Charlize Theron portrays Megyn Kelly in such a realistic way. We are used to seeing Charlize totally transform into a role (remember ‘Monster’?) and here she is again totally lost into Megyn Kelly. We don’t see Charlize anymore, but this vibrant TV personality. With the help of makeup and costume, she becomes unrecognizable.
The prosthetic genius behind her transformation is the Oscar-winning makeup artist Kazu Hiro, who reshaped Charlize’s face completely. Megyn has a strong, sharp and angular face, while Charlize’s face is round and soft in features. The nose is also very different and that is probably the first thing you notice about her, but Kazu also worked on her eyelids to perfectly embody the look of Megyn.
John Lithgow goes through the same transformation. He plays Roger Ailes, who was very different from his shape and features. Not only that he wore a body suit, but he also wore prosthetics to have bigger cheeks, bigger nose, thicker lips and even a very different hairline. In addition to all the physical transformation, John came with his impeccable acting, making an unforgettable role.
Nicole Kidman is not so changed as her colleagues as she naturally looks more like Gretchen Carlson. However, she has a much sharper jaw in the film as well.
The Young Woman
Margot Robbie’s character is a fictional one, to reflect the naivety, passion and dreams of the young woman who just landed her dream job and wants to achieve more. We feel the sexual harassment very intensely through her character. Not only that we feel that shame and disgust, but we see how her world crumbles and we feel her inner universe falling apart bit by bit. Her character is a great addition to the whole story because we actually feel the sexual harassment happening now, happening again…
