--- title: Elizabeth Banks: Steven Spielberg Films Lack Female Leads description: Elizabeth Banks stirred controversy by calling out Steven Spielberg for not making movies with female leads, but she forget a critical film. canonical: https://time.com/4820191/elizabeth-banks-steven-spielberg-the-color-purple/ author: Mahita Gajanan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-06-15T19:29:14.000Z article:modified_time: 2023-12-13T06:49:38.000Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: Elizabeth Banks Makes a Point About Hollywood Sexism—With a Crucial Oversight og:description: The actor and director called out Steven Spielberg for his lack of female leads og:url: https://time.com/4820191/elizabeth-banks-steven-spielberg-the-color-purple/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4186ae880b46641f/6988d1e0cd1bba1b8f705a9f/elizabeth-banks-steven-spielberg.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Women In Film 2017 Crystal + Lucy Awards Presented By Max Mara And BMW - Arrivals og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Elizabeth Banks Makes a Point About Hollywood Sexism—With a Crucial Oversight twitter:description: The actor and director called out Steven Spielberg for his lack of female leads twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4186ae880b46641f/6988d1e0cd1bba1b8f705a9f/elizabeth-banks-steven-spielberg.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Elizabeth Banks Makes an Important Point About Hollywood Sexism—With a Crucial Oversight > Sponsored content. 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Terms and conditions apply. * Savings buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Savings Account. * No ATM fees from Ally Bank at Allpoint and Moneypass ATMs plus we reimburse for fees charged by other ATM owners nationwide up to $10 per statement cycle. * Early direct deposit offers eligible direct deposits up to two days sooner. * Spending buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Spending Account. by [Mahita Gajanan](https://time.com/author/mahita-gajanan/) ## Mahita Gajanan Gajanan is an editor at TIME. Updated: Dec 13, 2023 6:49 AM UTCPublished: Jun 15, 2017 7:29 PM UTC  Actor Elizabeth Banks attends attends Women In Film 2017 Crystal + Lucy Awards Presented By Max Mara And BMW at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on June 13, 2017 in Beverly Hills, California. Actor Elizabeth Banks attends attends Women In Film 2017 Crystal + Lucy Awards Presented By Max Mara And BMW at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on June 13, 2017 in Beverly Hills, California.Frazer Harrison—Getty Images by [Mahita Gajanan](https://time.com/author/mahita-gajanan/) ## Mahita Gajanan Gajanan is an editor at TIME. Updated: Dec 13, 2023 6:49 AM UTCPublished: Jun 15, 2017 7:29 PM UTC Elizabeth Banks stirred up some controversy at the Women in Film Crystal + Lucy Awards by calling out [Steven Spielberg](http://time.com/4152057/steven-spielberg-genocide-essay/) for not making movies with female leads. “I went to _Indiana Jones_ and _Jaws_ and every movie Steven Spielberg ever made, and by the way, he’s never made a movie with a female lead,” she said while accepting an award on Tuesday. “Sorry, Steven. I don’t mean to call your ass out but it’s true.” Banks’ claim is incorrect — Spielberg’s 1985 film _The Color Purple_ starred Whoopi Goldberg, who was nominated for an Academy Award for the role. Someone in the audience at the awards ceremony pointed this out to Banks, and the actor reportedly moved on from the moment, according to[_The Wrap_](http://www.thewrap.com/elizabeth-banks-calls-steven-spielberg-hes-never-made-movie-female-lead/). Her failure to recognize the film, which grossed $142 million globally and received 11 Oscar nominations, triggered an online backlash, with many pointing to the fact that it was specifically an oversight of a movie starring a black woman. > [](https://twitter.com/ZerlinaMaxwell/status/875342157619634177) > [](https://twitter.com/EricHaywood/status/875340958790852609) Aside from _The Color Purple_, Spielberg does not have a strong record of casting women in lead roles. According to a close look at his filmography by [_Vulture_](http://www.vulture.com/2017/06/elizabeth-banks-is-not-entirely-wrong-about-steven-spielberg.html), only three of his 30 feature films star female leads, including 2016’s _The BFG_ — and he is far from the only mainstream Hollywood director with such a track record. Women in Hollywood continue to fare worse than men when it comes to landing substantial roles, and the numbers skew lower for women of color. Last year, female protagonists made up [29% of the top 100 films](http://money.cnn.com/2017/02/21/media/female-film-protagonist-study/index.html) at the U.S. box office, which was considered a record high, according to a study by San Diego State University’s Center for the Study of Women in Television & Film. Of all the [roles considered](http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/movies-2016-featured-a-record-number-women-protagonists-977956) in the study, 76% were played by white actors, while 14% were black, 6% were Asian and 3% were Latina. Banks apologized for the incident Thursday afternoon, saying that she took “full responsibility” for her oversight and did not mean to dismiss anyone. “I messed up. When referring to Steven Spielberg at the Women in Film awards, I framed my comments about his films inaccurately. I want to be clear from the start that I take full responsibility for what I said and I’m sorry,” Banks said [on Twitter](https://twitter.com/ElizabethBanks/status/875468638605656064). “When I made the comments, I was thinking of recent films Steven directed, it was not my intention to dismiss the import of the iconic #TheColorPurple.” > [](https://twitter.com/ElizabethBanks/status/875468638605656064) “I made things worse by giving the impression that I was dismissing Shari Belafonte when she attempted to correct me. I spoke with Shari backstage and she was kind enough to forgive me,” the star continued. “Those who have the privilege and honor of directing and producing films should be held to account for our mistakes, whether it’s about diversity or inaccurate statements. 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