Why Harvey Weinstein movie 'She Said' is a 'tribute to the power' of journalism, working moms

Not all heroes wear capes. Some of them carry notepads and voice recorders.

"She Said" (now in theaters) recounts the brave efforts of women who came forward about sexual misconduct by disgraced Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein, and the two New York Times journalists – Jodi Kantor (Zoe Kazan) and Megan Twohey (Carey Mulligan) – who broke the story in 2017. The film details the painstaking process of finding and interviewing sources, as well as the challenges survivors faced in choosing to go on the record.

"There are very few portrayals on screen of female courage," Mulligan says. "A lot of the time it's actual superheroes: women flying and destroying buildings or taking on evil overlords. I think that's why people respond so positively to characters like Erin Brockovich," the environmental activist played by Julia Roberts in the Oscar-winning 2000 film.

"We want to see our experience reflected," she says. "Women I know are incredibly brave and strong, and the women we're talking about in this story are the epitome of that."

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"She Said" is based on Kantor and Twohey's 2019 book about their investigation. Some of Weinstein's accusers appear throughout the film as themselves or other characters, including actresses Ashley Judd, Katherine Kendall and Sarah Ann Masse.

Mulligan, 37, says she was drawn to the way the script puts survivors "at the forefront of the story" and doesn't portray violence. Instead, the assaults are recalled in narration over shots of empty hotel rooms and hallways.

"I don't want to add another scene to the world with the depiction of violence against women," says director Maria Schrader (Netflix's "Unorthodox"). She also wanted to use Weinstein's presence sparingly, with just a few scenes where he can be heard on the phone or seen from behind.

Carey Mulligan, Zoe Kazan understood the 'juggle' of being working moms

Mulligan and Kazan, 39, became close friends while co-starring in a 2008 Broadway revival of "The Seagull," and later collaborated on the 2018 drama "Wildlife." Their personal and professional partnership mirrors that of the journalists they portray.

"We're practically sisters," Twohey says of Kantor. "So when we learned that the two women who were playing us had a similar relationship, it seemed like the perfect fit."

The four women spent a lot of time together in the weeks and months leading up to filming. Despite their very different careers, they bonded over their shared experiences as working moms. (Mulligan has two children with musician husband Marcus Mumford, while Kazan has two young kids with her partner, actor Paul Dano.)

"We had this common bond around doing that juggle: having your work be incredibly important to you and also feeling compelled to hold up the other half of the sky," Kazan says.

Mulligan also related to Twohey's struggles with postpartum depression, which are depicted in the movie.

"Much of Megan was a mystery to me, but this one part of her life felt really familiar because I had a similar experience with my first child," Mulligan recalls. "It blindsided me the way it did Megan, and I felt incredibly alone."

But going back to work helped Mulligan cope, as she promoted her 2015 movie "Suffragette" with Meryl Streep and Helena Bonham Carter.

"Being with those women, putting on clothes and getting my makeup done – it's a pretty privileged way to come into new motherhood," Mulligan says with a laugh. "But I did feel like, 'Oh, (PPD) is a nightmare, and at home, I feel very lost. But this work thing, I roughly have a map of how this works and this can secure me.' And Megan spoke very similarly about how going back to work and taking on this investigation was the thing that she felt would secure her."

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Megan Twohey, Jodi Kantor are 'flabbergasted' by their story's impact

Twohey and Kantor's investigation helped propel the #MeToo movement, opening the floodgates for countless others to share their stories of sexual misconduct. Weinstein was convicted in 2020 in New York on charges of rape and criminal sexual acts, and was sentenced to 23 years in prison. He is now on trial in Los Angeles on 11 more charges of rape and sexual assault.

Since Weinstein, dozens of men in Hollywood have been removed from projects and executive positions due to misconduct allegations. Many movies and TV sets have added intimacy coordinators and anonymous hotlines to ensure that cast and crew members feel safe. "She Said" even had a therapist on call during production, in case some scenes were triggering for any of the survivors or actors.

But the film's stars are careful to note that sexual assault and harassment are not exclusively Hollywood problems, and that many other industries have seen the ripple effects of Twohey and Kantor's reporting.

"You have only to open a newspaper to see how much work there is left to do," Kazan says. "We hope this film adds to that conversation, and that it empowers people. This is not a story of powerful people deciding to make a change, and with the flip of a switch, change is made. It's about how hard it is to make even incremental change, and the kind of diligence and perseverance it takes."

As for Kantor, she continues to be "flabbergasted" by the impact their work has had.

"We're still living totally normal reporter lives," Kantor says. "We're taking the subway. We're still living in the same New York apartments you see depicted in the film. We're raising kids. And we're still sweating out every detail on every fresh story that we publish. So I don't think we've fully processed it. We're just grateful that these filmmakers have made a tribute to the power of this process," she says.

"Because we weren't going after Harvey Weinstein – we were going after the truth. We had no idea what might happen afterwards."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'She Said': Carey Mulligan, Zoe Kazan on Harvey Weinstein #MeToo movie