Elizabeth Banks Talks About Her Deep Involvement In 2019 Charlie's Angels
Since its original iteration in the '70s, "Charlie's Angels" has had a special brand of camp that has lasted decades. The television series about the titular Angels taking orders from that signature voice from a box was a stab at feminism at a time when there were not many female-fronted shows. With each subsequent reboot of the property, creatives tried to update the gender politics for the era. The first "Charlie's Angels" reboot was a flash in the pan of 2000s-era pop culture. Drawing in excruciatingly famous actors Drew Barrymore, Lucy Lui, and Cameron Diaz, the two films were a strange fever dream of women doing backflips while worrying about their love lives. As those weren't the most progressive films to date, the series was due for another update two decades later.
Enter Elizabeth Banks. Known for her contributions to "Wet Hot American Summer" and "The Hunger Games," she was the pitch-perfect choice to direct a culturally relevant movie that also happened to be female-focused. Unfortunately for Banks, the 2019 film adaptation of "Charlie's Angels" left her with one regret after its premiere. There was no love for the film at the box office, which was especially disappointing for Banks, whose involvement did not just pertain to directing.
Elizabeth Banks had multiple roles in the making of 2019's Charlie's Angels
"Charlie's Angels" may not be remembered as one of the standout films of the 2019 season, but that doesn't change the amount of love and investment that went into the making of the movie. Banks was so passionate about "Charlie's Angels" that she did more than double duty. She appears as the Angels' handler Bosley and also wrote, directed, and produced the film.
"I wrote the movie, I produced the movie," Banks ticked off her responsibilities on "WTF" with Marc Maron at around 52:30 of the episode. "Yeah, I got my name on there four times. I can't deny I had a lot of control over making that movie." After going into the Sony offices about a project, she was almost immediately intrigued when the production company mentioned she could do essentially anything with the property.
"It took like five years until we made it," Banks continued. "And at that point, I was very invested. And I loved my actors. I had Kristen Stewart, who I think is one of the greatest of her generation and just stunning and ... surprising in the movie." Playing adamantly against type, Stewart portrays Sabina, who is one-third of the dazzling group of spies. Given Stewart's acclaimed films such as "Spencer" and "Personal Shopper," Banks is not being hyperbolic when calling her an impressive talent.
In an interview with The Playlist, Stewart joined Banks in being unapologetic about the film. Poor reviews did not lessen the amount of commitment that everyone brought to the project.