Little Women's Saoirse Ronan Found a Positive Spin to Greta Gerwig's Golden Globes Snub

Little Women director Greta Gerwig and other female filmmakers were snubbed by the Golden Globes, but star Saoirse Ronan was able to find a silver lining. Hear what she said here.

By emily belfiore Dec 10, 2019 4:22 PMTags
Watch: 2020 Golden Globe Awards: Nominations List

The cast of Little Women aren't letting a snub get them down.

On Tuesday, Saoirse Ronan found a positive way to spin Greta Gerwig's 2020 Golden Globes snub during her visit to TODAY. Joined by co-stars Florence Pugh and Eliza Scanlen, the Lady Bird actress weighed in on the absence of female directors in the Best Director category, mirroring her co-star Laura Dern's sentiments that the disappointing news will serve as a catalyst for change.

"[Greta] has made one of the best movies of the year and I think, you know, Laura made a really good point yesterday and that, in a way, it's sort of vital for something like this to happen because it reminds us of how far, obviously, we need to go."

The nominees for Best Director Martin Scorsese for The IrishmanTodd Phillips for JokerSam Mendes for 1917Bong Joon-ho for Parasite and Quentin Tarantino for Once Upon A Time...in Hollywood, marking the fifth consecutive year that the Hollywood Foreign Press Association has majorly snubbed female directors. 

The year's other notable female filmmakers include A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood director Marielle Heller, Lorene Scafaria, who directed one of 2019's biggest films Hustlers, Olivia Wilde for BooksmartHarriet's Kasi Lemmons and Lulu Wang, who directed The Farewell

Despite Greta's snub, Little Women still has a lot to celebrate. Saoirse earned a Golden Globe nomination on Monday for her role in the classic novel's new adaptation, as well as Alexandre Desplat for Best Original Score – Motion Picture.

After receiving the news that she had been nominated for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama, she said, "Getting to play Jo March, one of the most inspiring characters in literature, still today, has been an honor."

"I am eternally grateful to Greta Gerwig for her guidance and partnership, and for her fierce perseverance that brought this incredible cast together and created an environment for us to become a real family and tell this very special story," her statement continued. "My performance in this film belongs to Greta as much as it does myself and I share this recognition completely with her."

While discussing Greta's work as a director on TODAY, Saoirse expressed the same gratitude towards the filmmaker, who also directed the Oscar-nominated actress in 2017's Lady Bird.

"She's a really, really brilliant filmmaker who, you know, we wouldn't be here without her," she said. "We've talked about how we're all sort of inextricably linked. Our performances relied so much on one another, but Greta is the one that brought us all together and she's the mastermind behind the whole thing."

Saoirse wasn't the only star to weigh in. Charlize Theron, who also picked up a Best Actress in a Leading Role – Drama nomination for Bombshell, condemned the HFPA for the snub, saying, "It's tough. It's really, really tough. And I think it gets really frustrating when we have to remember that women directors, especially, are just trying to get their numbers up."

She continued, "They represent 10% of our directors in the industry, and when you have a good year like we had this year with such great work, it is incredibly frustrating."

Latest News