Our next director for our Female Filmmakers series is a big one. She's a modern hitmaker! We are talking about the Wonder Woman herself, Patty Jenkins!
Patty Jenkins is a remarkable director who has really worked her way up. From a film about a female serial killer to Marvel movies, Patty is a powerhouse. So let's dive into her life!
Patty's career got started when she worked as a painter at The Cooper Union in NYC. She became more fascinated with filmmaking, so she slowly transitioned to working as an assistant on commercial and music video sets. She built up her experience from assistant camera person to getting into the American Film Institute in LA and writing the film Monster.
Patty made her feature film debut with the movie Monster in 2003 which went on to earn Charlize Theron an academy award for her incredible portrayal of Aileen Wournos. The film is still heralded as one of the best of the 2000s for its raw storytelling about the gritty life of Aileen.
Patty chose Charlize for the role after seeing her play a messy character in The Devil's Advocate. She said in one scene, Charlize's nose is running in a closeup, and she felt that if the glamourous actress was okay with that then she would definitely be okay with getting messy to play Aileen.
Another piece of trivia on the casting is that Reese Witherspoon really wanted the role and Kate Hudson was originally offered Selby. Imagine if those two had actually been in the movie!
This film told both a sympathetic and sad story of Aileen who never had a chance in life. Granted, I know that she was a serial killer and that is awful. I am not saying that it was not. But Patty also shows us how Aileen was constantly abused which caused her to become desperate for love. When she finally had an adult relationship - her girlfriend Selby played by Christina Ricci - Aileen did anything to protect their love...including kill.
Charlize goes nude in the movie and despite the lesbian relationship Christina really doesn't. They do cuddle naked in bed together, but that's about it. Otherwise, we watch Charlize in both her bra and panties and totally topless.
After that, Patty went on to direct episodes of Entourage and Arrested Development which felt like quite the departure from Monster. It took a few years, but her biggest successes were still to come.
She directed 2017's Wonder Woman starring Gal Gadot. This was the first female superhero movie since 2005's Elektra and it was a total hit. Luckily, Patty was a fan of Lynda Carter's Wonder Woman series, so this became a passion project for her.
The movie had been in development for nearly two decades with Ivan Reitman attached as the director in 1996. 1996! The movie changed hands several times and almost went to Joss Whedon and Michelle MacLaren (TV director who has directed several episodes of Breaking Bad, Game of Thrones, and The X-Files to name a few) before finally being handed to Patty.
Patty is slated to directed both Wonder Woman 3 and Star Wars: Rogue Squadron, so she has more blockbusters in store for us. I am personally delighted to see this career trajectory for her. It is very rare and very cool to see a woman go from harsh drama to several major superhero films. That being said, I do miss the risks she took in her early work.
Her biggest trademark so far is definitely strong female characters. From Aileen to Wonder Woman, her characters fight for what they believe in and what they feel they have to do. Her characters do not compromise, whether that is good or bad.
I like to think that Patty is drawn to those characters because she sees herself in them. As a female director in Hollywood, I imagine she sometimes has to fight to get what she wants while refusing to compromise on her vision.
Watch her uncompromised vision here:
