EP. 69 — Elizabeth Banks

Jameela: [00:00:00] Hello and welcome to another episode of I Weigh with Jameela Jamil, I hope you’re well, because you know who isn’t? Me, because tonight I had a fight. That’s right. I had a fight at a fist fight with. An instant pot. I don’t know if you know what those are. They are electric, slow cooking bastards and you have to lock your food in and then cook it for a couple of hours and come back to it. And it’s supposed to give you your food when it’s done cooking. But mine didn’t. So we had a bit of a tussle and it burned me and has decided to continue holding my food hostage. It will not give me my food. And now I’m hungry and I have no other food in the fridge. Cos I was trying to be an adult and start cooking my own stuff because I’ve been living on cheese and toast and takeout and pizzas and James and all of my flatmates are away, so no one’s here to make me live up to adult standards. So I’ve just gone like full eating Chinese takeout in my pants and watching terrible rom coms and dancing to disco badly singing so loud and so badly in the shower. Not really putting anything away is just a floordrobe. All my clothes on the floor. I haven’t really done the washing in a while. The kitchen’s very clean. But that’s because I don’t use it because I’m a child. I only use the microwave and the toaster made scrambled eggs in the microwave like a winner the other day I was running late for work, needed some good protein and fat and yeah, pretty sure there was no protein or fat in that by the time it was done being subjected to the nuclear bomb technology, that is a microwave. Anyway, I decided to try and grow up tonight and this is what happened. I was attacked by an instant pot. So never again and go straight back to my takeout and cheese on toast lifestyle from tomorrow. And no one’s here to judge me. No one’s here to even know, apart from the fact that I’ve now told several hundred thousand of you. But that’s fine anyway. Let’s move on, let’s talk about our guest this week, it is the wonderful and charming and funny Elizabeth Banks. Elizabeth Banks first became famous as an actress and then later on went on to become a huge and successful producer and director. In fact, I met her in an audition, which is a very intense way to meet someone that you admire. Sadly, because of visas, we weren’t able to do that film together, but we stayed in touch. And she is someone who is just always there to give advice if you need it. She’s so open, she’s so unpretentious. She’s so cool and confident and just owns every single room that she’s in. And she’s super, super, super open. And also on this podcast, we talked about PMS, about her periods and how PMS is a real thing that women deal with, how it can affect your mental health as the main mental health struggle that she’s ever had, really. So she’s been super lucky, but it really has terrorized her at times. We talk about her work and reproductive rights and we discuss the ways that reproductive rights are being threatened. She’s a huge activist in that space. And we also discuss her work as a director and her journey to that position, which is still not held by many women. But also we try to make sure that we don’t just talk about what it’s like to be a woman director. I just wanted to know about the craft and I wanted to ask her questions, the same questions I would be a man about being a director. And so we kind of danced in and out of that subject and it was so insightful and she’s just so creative and such an inspiration. She also, by the way, has her own podcast that came out yesterday. It’s called My Body, My Podcast. And in the podcast, she seamlessly blends autobiography and information to create an open space to talk about all things sex and sexuality. I am on the body episode, along with Laverne Cox and Lindy West discussing body image, body liberation and body neutrality was very, very good. She’s very good. And I, I think if you weren’t already aware of the woman behind all of this incredible body of work, then I think you’ll love her. So I hope you enjoy this and let me know and DM me and if I haven’t been murdered by my instant pot in my sleep, I think it’s going to take revenge at me for unplugging it. So if the robots don’t come back to kill me in the night, then I’d love to read what you think about this episode today. Lots of love to you. This is Elizabeth Banks. Elizabeth Banks, welcome to I Weigh. How are you? [00:05:01][301.2]

Elizabeth: [00:05:02] I’m very well and so happy to be talking to you. I love this podcast. You have such fun guests. I can’t believe I’m one of them. [00:05:08][6.4]

Jameela: [00:05:08] Oh, God, you’re so ridiculous. It’s a huge honor to have you here. I’m a massive fan. And I have in recent years, yeah I’ll say years, grown to love you as a human face to face. [00:05:22][13.5]

Elizabeth: [00:05:23] Thanks. Thanks, lady. I know we met in my what, twenty six fifteen? [00:05:29][6.1]

Jameela: [00:05:30] We met in an audition. That was like how we met. I was auditioning in front of you and I was shitting myself because I think you’re one of the truly great comedic actresses of all time. And I had to stand there and be funny in front of you and I was mortified. But you were so nice to me. But, yeah, you’re you’re a very comforting and decisive leader in that situation. And so I hope I I hope one day we get to work together where I can be led by you full time. But you’re you’re you’re a fave of mine, a long time fave. I think the first time I came across to you is probably 40 Year Old Virgin and opposite Steve Carell. And I was like, who the fuck is that? Because it was a new type of movie, a new genre of film. And they were films that didn’t give a lot of funny roles or moments to women. And I feel like you just came in like, this is it I’m going to make an impression. [00:06:28][58.0]

Elizabeth: [00:06:31] It’s hard not to when you get to masturbate in a bathtub on film. You tend to stay in people’s minds after that happened. [00:06:39][7.4]

Jameela: [00:06:39] Yeah, well, I didn’t I didn’t forget you. And I’ve really enjoyed following your career ever since. There’s so much that you do, not only as an actor, but also as a director and an advocate. There’s a million things I want to talk to you about. First of all, how are you? [00:06:52][12.8]

Elizabeth: [00:06:53] You know, I I’m great, I’m really busy right now, so that’s exciting. I feel like there was I wouldn’t say fallow time, but there was definitely a lot of family time, a lot of focus on the Family during the pandemic. And everything seems to be opening up. And I suddenly feel actually slightly overwhelmed at how much I’m about to embark on, which is great. I’m prepping a movie that I’m going to direct and prepping a movie I’m going to act in and, you know, being a mom, being a mom. And then my son turned ten yesterday. So a lot of things going on, we did a big we did not big. We did a birthday Zoom celebration and just making him feel special because that’s what you have to do when you get double digits. [00:07:39][45.5]

Jameela: [00:07:40] And you and I when I called for the little kind of like preinterview chat and we were talking I was explaining to you about and you listen to this podcast anyway, thank you very much for doing that. And it’s about mental health. And when asking you about your mental health, you were telling me that you’ve been very lucky in the fact that you’ve had a kind of stable upbringing, stable existence, like you have a fairly stable brain chemistry. And and you spoke about that with immense gratitude and almost reticence because it’s so rare, I guess. But you did mention that you do, however, struggle with instability around your hormones, around your periods. And I thought that was really interesting and something that I wanted to talk about, because that is a different type of struggle that we just don’t hear enough about. [00:08:29][49.4]

Elizabeth: [00:08:30] Yeah, yeah. I mean, like I feel when I was really getting at was that I feel really grateful in that I can I I have a I think I’m pretty in touch with my body and I’m pretty in touch with what’s going on with me. And for sure, I have had periods of time in my life. But I can tell you they’re almost always it was like adolescence, puberty, when your hormones are going crazy, when everything was awful and I hated everyone and I, I, I definitely I had really dark, dark moments when you think you can only see what’s right in front of you and you can see the next day you cannot see the sun coming up. So I just want to say that I have a deep sense of empathy for mental health issues because I have recognized them in myself. My mental health is in really good condition. But it’s not it’s not because for no reason whatsoever, I’m certainly very aware of, like, having to care for it. Does that make sense? And a lot of that comes from PMS and PMS being like a real thing, you know, premenstrual syndrome. [00:09:44][74.2]

Jameela: [00:09:46] It’s a it’s an interesting subject where, for a while, the concept of PMS was used. It was kind of weaponized against us and it would be used to kind of gaslight us around certain situations or, you know, it would be used to diagnose our rage is something other than our right to be upset in a certain situation. And I have participated in that humor before. A lot of people have. But then I feel as though that became so rightfully stigmatized that then we stopped kind of having the conversation around PMS because we were like and if we talk about it, then they’ll know that it’s real and they’ll start using it against us again. And so then I don’t feel as though I ever have the conversation really about PMS beyond just kind of cramps and it feels more physical. We don’t talk about the psychological aspect because we’re so afraid of it being weaponized against us, but we fucking need to. And and I feel it’s almost maybe as my friends are getting older, we’re recognizing like more and more severe symptoms around our periods. And so I, I would love to know what your experience is. What do you become like? What’s your vibe? [00:10:53][67.0]

Elizabeth: [00:10:54] Well, OK, so mine’s really specific. Just so full disclosure, I’ve had a very regular period. Twenty four to twenty six days since I was I got my period when I was eleven just before my 12th birthday, so three months before my twelfth birthday. So I this is, this is a long time that I’ve been dealing with this monthly extravaganza in my life. And so I really luckily, once you get through puberty, when the hormones are all over the place and it’s not particularly regular, in my twenties I was like, oh, OK. Three days before my period, I have massive insomnia, for instance, and for a long time I would lay in bed and just feel like, oh my God, why can I sleep? And I would you do yourself check in? Like, do I have anxiety? Like, what am I worried about? You know, your brain’s running constantly when you’re most people when they have insomnia. And I just lay there like I just literally my body is not interested in sleeping. And then and through tracking it, which now you can do on apps, by the way, [00:11:58][64.3]

Jameela: [00:11:59] I do mine tells me like five days before my period, I’m about to become a massive bitch, gives me a heads up so I can send the alert out. [00:12:07][7.6]

Elizabeth: [00:12:07] Exactly. So I had to just sort of like literally I had a day planner and I would write like day one in my day planner every time I got my period. And then I could count days and be like, OK, I’m coming up on this period when, frankly, I’m getting a flush of hormones and it’s changing my body chemistry. I just know that it is. And it’s and it’s not only that, it’s switching something in my brain that makes me first sure way more emotional for sure [00:12:39][32.3]

Jameela: [00:12:41] How emotional like like [00:12:41][0.2]

Elizabeth: [00:12:42] like a song makes me cry. The like Hallmark commercial that you’re like I can’t believe that she gave her a Mother’s Day card and but and where it really affects me is I’m like a lit fuse. So I’m, I have I’m just so sharp I can’t. I am my problem solving ability goes to zero, and I’m just like, I need the problem solved this second, I don’t understand why things aren’t working out today. And it’s not a long period of time talking like three to five days of my life. [00:13:25][42.8]

Jameela: [00:13:25] You get the rage. Do you get rage? [00:13:27][1.7]

Elizabeth: [00:13:28] Monthly. It’s not so much rage. It’s a short fuse. It’s like it’s it’s it’s a lack of coping with when things are not going well and everything just feels either more anxiety or things that normally wash over me or is don’t seem like a big deal to me, suddenly seem like the biggest deal in the world to me. And it may and I’m by the way, I’m not as nice to my kids and I’m not as nice to my husband. Like I see the behavior and what is what to me, having healthy mental health is really about understanding those moments and knowing that this is a chemistry that something’s gone sideways and it’s real, I’m not this it’s physically happening to your body and to your mental state, but you you know, you know what it is. And now you’re going to use better coping mechanisms. You’re going to not scream at someone you’re going to recognize, like, OK, this is me. This is not that they’re not doing anything outside their ordinary behavior, particularly. I’m having a crazy reaction to it. I hate using the word crazy, by the way, but it’s, I think, a simple way to say how you feel. [00:14:48][80.0]

Jameela: [00:14:50] Yeah. We’re all collectively easing it out of our vocabularies, but yeah. Yeah, I don’t get too many emotional ups and downs necessarily. I definitely become impatient the day before, but mostly I become extraordinarily needy, very, very needy. I’m hugely independent and quite cold and not very touchy feely for a lot of the time because I’m just kind of getting on with getting getting on with my life. And then suddenly, about a week before my period, I’m just like a fucking octopus. I have my my arms and legs become tentacles that will just like like cling to the nearest human to me. And I live with all of these friends of mine and they just have learned to tolerate that. I like that when I suddenly become extremely sweet, extremely generous with my with my love, they know that it’s because I’m having a chemical imbalance in my brain. And that I’m manipulating them into giving me the the cuddles that I need that lasts all day. So I just become this like it’s like something out of a horror movie. Um, but but that’s it. I’ve become so far quite needy and and hugely impatient the day before. But I’m also wondering, after having spoken to you, I have these random patches of insomnia every single month and I just sit there feeling like a failure, feeling like I’m going to fuck up the next day and then the next day I have loads of energy. I don’t feel as though I haven’t slept overnight. And I, I think it is wild that it’s still such a mystery to us that we’re not we’re not encouraged at school to start tracking our periods, tracking our symptoms. I wasn’t told anything about them. I wasn’t doing anything about sanitary towels or tampons. I still don’t think that we are. I was taught about the the the the doodles of the reproductive system and how babies are made. But I wasn’t given any advice and I can’t believe that I’m getting to my mid thirties before I’m finally realizing, you know what? I should write this shit down. Yeah. We had Aisling Bea on this podcast who is hilarious. And just a couple of weeks ago and she was talking about she was talking about the fact that that she doesn’t think that it’s possible that men invented the calendar. She was like, why would men need to know when the next month is coming around? She was like, of course, it was a fucking woman. Of course, she probably wrote the calendar in period blood with her finger to be able to figure out when this hell was coming back around. [00:17:18][147.7]

Elizabeth: [00:17:19] I think what you’re bringing up is really important, which is that women throughout history have been tracking for family planning purposes and and mental health. I’m sure you know, the other thing that happens to me, frankly, the positive thing is I get really horny right before my period. And I also I, I also have the cravings. So I have the I like I make cookie dough pretty much like if I am if I’m in my house and I’m like, gosh, you know what I need to do? I need to make cookie dough, then it’s literally five days later my period’s coming. I don’t break any other time of the month. I bake exactly five days before my period’s coming it’s because I need cookie dough so badly. And then and then I’m super horny and I eat voraciously and I get bloated. And then right afterwards I, I’m not hungry at all. I truly lose my appetite for a couple of days. I don’t really eat. And I same thing when I have the insomnia. [00:18:21][62.2]

Jameela: [00:18:22] You’re not feeling as horny afterwards. [00:18:22][0.5]

Elizabeth: [00:18:23] Not really. [00:18:23][0.2]

Jameela: [00:18:24] It’s funny because I always wonder if that’s quite confusing for my partner, because I’m quite I’m quite similar. And so I go from being this sort of like cookie cookie monster sex monster cuddle monster, every kind of monster to just just being quite aloof and uninterested in food, uninterested in anything. Uninterested in a cuddle just like so. And then it kind of slowly comes back again over the course of the month. But it’s like dropping off a cliff every single month. And I can’t help it. I’m just I like what I like when I like it. [00:18:55][30.9]

Elizabeth: [00:18:55] Yeah. I think it’s important for women, though, to hear that, that there it is. It is a cycle that there is a there is a chemistry and a hormone situation like going on that you can’t really control. I mean people have or are on the pill control it slightly, but I mean, I still I was on the pill for ten years and I still had most of the hormonal things I’m talking about still happened to me as your body prepares to have a baby or not. And, you know, and I think that it’s also hear that out loud. Your body every month prepares to have a baby and when it doesn’t let go of that idea. And so there’s this physical thing happening inside of every woman from puberty until menopause that if you are aware of or are not thinking about, you’re having you know, you’re having some sort of episodes potentially in your life that you you don’t understand or it’s really just part of being a woman. And I’ve loved what you said about it being weaponized because, I mean, I’ve had how many times have we heard women can’t be a CEO or be president because, my God, they might get emotional for a day [00:20:18][82.7]

Jameela: [00:20:19] Alright Brett Kavanaugh like what was his fucking excuse? [00:20:22][3.6]

Elizabeth: [00:20:24] By the way, as if, you know what I’m saying is like, I get it, I’m in control. Like, I understand what’s happening to me. I make the adjustments in my life. I keep going. This has never kept me from a job. It’s never kept me from staying in my happy marriage. It’s not kept me from a single thing in my life. And, you know, maybe it makes a moment with someone more tense than I would like it to be, but then take you take responsibility for that, apologize and move through it. [00:20:54][30.1]

Jameela: [00:20:55] And you have twenty seven mobile days. [00:20:57][2.7]

Elizabeth: [00:20:58] Yes, exactly. And the idea that, like, somehow I’m not cap as I’m not as capable on those days is ridiculous because that’s not true. And it if anything, I think women prove month after month that anything you can do we can do bleeding. Which is my favorite. [00:21:15][16.7]

Jameela: [00:21:16] I love that so much. I, yeah I’ve, I’ve got a kind of I’m reconfiguring my relationship with the time that you’re on your period where I now think of it as just it doesn’t feel like an insult anymore to me as in. I’m aware that people try to use it as an insult. But now I look at it as I oh, are you going through this extremely traumatic thing and you’re holding your shit together by getting out of bed today. Well done. [00:21:39][22.9]

Elizabeth: [00:21:40] Yes, that’s right. [00:21:41][1.2]

Jameela: [00:21:41] But I do recognize it as something that can change your mood. And I think that we should make space for that so that the world can make space for this massive change that we’re going through. I think it was Riz Ahmed, there was an actor who once told me about the nut mist. He was he was talking to me about the fact that I can’t believe we talk about women being so, so hormonal when they only go through this big shift maybe once a month. He was like, if if men do not release. [00:22:09][27.5]

Elizabeth: [00:22:09] Work it out. [00:22:10][0.4]

Jameela: [00:22:11] Bust that nut then they come to quote this person, Gorillas in the Mist. And so that’s why he calls it the nut mist. And he was like this is a three day cycle where we could kill someone like we are out of like we have lost all rationale. That’s it. We can’t we we are having so many sexual thoughts, so many aggressive thoughts. We’re totally out of control, fucking every three or four days. So why are we acting like women are the only ones who have something that they just need to manage? So I don’t know. It’s like a thing that I’m trying to I’m trying to normalize in my own head. Are you on your period or something that doesn’t feel like a massive rude insult or a gaslighting statement just uh you got a thing that you need a little bit support with right now. [00:22:56][44.4]

Elizabeth: [00:22:56] Yes, that’s exactly it. Yeah, I think that’s exactly the way I think about it, that it’s not it’s not some oh, she’s got uhh this lady. You’re like, oh, OK. It’s an understanding. I was telling this story recently. I was in a fitting and the costume designer and the costumer. So the woman who helps a little because they were in their fifties and and then I was in the room and then a young actress was in the room. And so in the end, at a certain point, the costumer kind of got a little wild eyed and looked at me and looked at the customers and said, hey, it’s a little hot in here. Do you think we can open a window? And the energy that went between her and me and the fifty year old costume designer, I was like, oh, she’s she’s having a hot flash. She’s going she’s having a hormone thing right now. She needs some help, like a little relief. She was kind of what I look like. Absolutely. Let’s open the window, you know. And a minute later, the very sweet actress is in her twenties and has no idea what energy just transpired between the older women in the room was like, I don’t know, I’m a little cold, do you think we could close the window and the panic that flashed on the costumer’s face like like, no, please, I need the window you know, so it’s important to remember, too, like this doesn’t end. You know, there’s not like it carries through for women for a long time in our lives. So, you know, the care that needs to be taken in those moments of empathy, of like, you know, no one’s saying out loud, like, oh, she’s having a hot flash and going through menopause and needs the window open, it’s just like when we all know what’s going on, we can help each other through it. [00:24:52][116.1]

Jameela: [00:24:52] Yeah, we can also help ourselves, Aisling was fascinating and that she was talking about this book called Period Power, which I mentioned to you when we were on the phone by Maisie Hill. And I’m going to try and get Maisie on this podcast to come and explain it further to all of us. But she’s written a book that explains exactly what’s happening to our brains and to our to our bodies and how to utilize that for strength, not just like, oh, I’m so delicate now and I just need help. There are some there are some moments during our cycle where we become super humans, where our brains function so well and are, and it’s and it’s often the same cyclical pattern. And so if we could just learn when that time is via this journaling that you seem to be doing already, like from when you were younger, this is before we even knew about this practice, then we would be able to utilize that for our strength of like this is my week to just stay home and and chill and it will be more creative. This is my week to go and get shit done and move house or do all of these difficult things will help family members, et cetera. If we start to like play to our strengths and no longer look at them as weaknesses, but just alterations, I think it could completely transform our lives. When is a good time to do a job interview? When is a good time. You know what I mean. Is that a good time to go on a date? [00:26:01][68.4]

Elizabeth: [00:26:02] Well, when you look what you were saying about the insomnia and how the next morning, like I’m the same, I have these nights of insomnia and I wake. I don’t need the sleep. My body is telling me, like, you’re fine, you’re going to you’re going to be great on three hours tomorrow. And you don’t believe it until you’ve done it enough times. You’re like, oh, yeah, I don’t even feel tired. In fact, I now use those nights to get work done. To like or like watch a movie I’ve been waiting to watch. You know, I get the house to myself at three o’clock in the morning. I don’t lay in bed anxiety ridden that I’m going to be exhausted the next morning anymore because I actually know I won’t be. My body is not letting me down. It’s just doesn’t need sleep tonight for whatever reason. I don’t know. I feel super energized the next day. [00:26:45][43.2]

Jameela: [00:26:46] This is this is really helpful. You having told me that on the phone, it’s just made me it totally fucked my brain because I was like, oh my God, this has been happening to me. And I’ve just been torturing myself every month for like 20 something years. You have a huge interest in reproductive rights, you have been one of the more vocal advocates in mainstream media who has been talking about women’s rights to reproduction, I’m someone who talks a lot about our freedom to all reproductive care, and I’m someone who’s had an abortion, very open about it, very chill about the whole thing. Don’t have any regrets. It wasn’t in an emergency. It wasn’t a victim of an assault at that time. Just did it because I needed to do it because it was my right to do it, because it was better for my life in that time. And that is that just fine. That is health care. And that is something that you feel, too. Would you talk to me a little bit about it as someone who’s so open about it also? Do you mind me asking, have you ever participated in an abortion? [00:27:50][64.5]

Elizabeth: [00:27:53] So [00:27:53][0.0]

Jameela: [00:27:53] Participated means have you ever given one? Have you ever had an abortion? [00:27:55][2.1]

Elizabeth: [00:27:58] So I have uh so first of all, I’ve never had an abortion. I but I have absolutely benefited in my life from the knowledge that if I needed to have an abortion, I could have one, meaning knowing that I had access and a right to it and gave me a real sense of freedom in my life. It allowed me to, frankly, have wonderful, loving, intimate relationships in my life. I also always was with a boyfriend who I knew had the same values as me about it and also didn’t want to become a parent before they were ready. And I think there’s also that time I remember in my I’ve been married to my college boyfriend now for 17 years or something, 18 years. So I’ve been in this very long relationship with him. And we started dating when I was 18 and I remember around like twenty five, twenty six, like having a dinner with him. We were out to dinner and I was like, hey so just so you know, I feel like if I if like we accidentally got pregnant, I’d probably at this point I think I’d have the baby. And he was like, oh right. Yeah, yeah. OK, OK. And we kind of because you got to check in on that stuff, like if he was like, no, no, no, I’d still want you to get an abortion. You got to make sure you’re on the same page about those things. So we had been in a relationship where it was like if we if we got accidentally pregnant, I was probably going have an abortion. And then there’s a certain moment you’re like, no, actually, I’m ready. I would be a parent with you if I if it happened with you in this committed, loving relationship where we’re already talking about our future together. I was ready to parent in that time in my life. And it was really I think it’s it’s just a really important check in that I still remember being the moment where I was like, oh, OK, I’ve now changed my stance. I’m ready to you know, if something were to happen, I’m going to do it. I’m going to jump in. And before that so grateful to have had my mom, who I would have told about it. At the very least, my sisters like I had people that would drive me and help me. And, you know, I had resources. The Planned Parenthood you could walk to and from my high school in my town where I grew up. And I just knowing that that was there and was a resource for me. That is not the case for millions of women in America and the millions and millions more around the world and [00:30:39][161.6]

Jameela: [00:30:39] I got pelted with rosary beads when I went for mine. They just threw rosary beads at me, uh, that was a very, very intense. That’s fine, didn’t didn’t deter me. [00:30:49][9.9]

Elizabeth: [00:30:52] Yeah. I think also there’s a you know, I. I think also there’s so many women who go through infertility and, you know, it takes a lot of the what’s the word, I don’t know, like the holiness or something that people want to put on pregnancy. Takes the holiness out of it. You’re like, oh, it’s like a sperm meets an egg and then it divides cells and they implant in. It’s a really scientific process, actually. And I think that when you intend for that to happen, it’s wonderful. And when you don’t intend for that to happen, I don’t know why it’s not OK to be like that was never the intention. You know? [00:31:42][49.6]

Jameela: [00:31:43] Yeah I mean, it’s funny, it was your show Shrill that I watched where I understood finally how I got pregnant, because obviously I had the sex and the condom broke. And so I did the thing that you’re supposed to do. I went a couple of hours later to the pharmacy and I went and got the morning after pill and then it didn’t fucking work. And I didn’t understand how it didn’t work. And I later, seven years later, watched the show that you’d produced Shrill with Adie Bryant, which is such a good TV show, by the way. And and she says in it that the pill doesn’t work, if you’re over something like one hundred and seventy five pounds. I was way over one hundred and seventy five pounds when I got pregnant. And the pharmacist definitely knew that when he gave me the pill, but just didn’t tell me. Or he didn’t know. No what. I did not know that there was a potential weight limit on how impactful the fucking contraceptive pill is for someone. So I just took it thinking I was safe and then boom, I’m pregnant. That isn’t I mean, even if I hadn’t done all that, I still don’t have to have a baby. But the point is, is that, fucking hell, if I can’t even make the system to protect us from it, like two different manmade things as a man male made inventions, didn’t fucking work. Why do I have to have a baby? You never do. [00:33:05][82.9]

Elizabeth: [00:33:07] Well, this. Yeah. And I work with the Center for Reproductive Rights. I’m the chair of their creative council very proudly. And they they really do all a lot of the legal work to to keep not just abortion legal, but so much work on reproductive health across the board and maternal health and just and equality and human rights. I mean, this is the thing. It’s like the world that we’re talking about, just to be clear, is is is the difference between women deciding when and with whom to get pregnant without to parent, when and with whom to parent, without government intervention or forced pregnancy or criminal prosecution. These are the these are the this is the line that’s being drawn right when we talk about these things. So there’s either either is an accessible human right or it’s forced pregnancy and or criminal prosecution. I mean, that’s those are the sides in this. [00:34:16][69.4]

Jameela: [00:34:17] And it’s more extreme than a lot of people realize that they understand why we need to, like, keep our attention on this. And I think for a moment, when Amy Coney Barrett was brought into the Supreme Court, we was talking about it again. And then we stopped talking about it again and we stopped talking about her or all the people who are in the Supreme Court who want to take away these abortion rights, what we don’t realize is that you can have a miscarriage and potentially be prosecuted. [00:34:38][21.2]

Elizabeth: [00:34:39] That’s right. That’s exactly right. [00:34:39][0.5]

Jameela: [00:34:39] And if they find anything in your system, maybe you had a bit of like I don’t know you smoked a tiny bit of weed. You didn’t even know you were pregnant. And you happen to have a miscarriage that was totally unrelated because that is unlikely to cause a miscarriage. They can say, well, this was found and traced in your blood. You did it on purpose. This was a homemade abortion. We’re going to prosecute you for this. You’ll be charged. Being are being jailed for this. [00:35:01][21.3]

Elizabeth: [00:35:02] There are women who have what who have obstetric emergencies. Right. So whether it’s a miscarriage or some other you know their placenta falls apart like there’s different kinds of obstetric emergencies that happens to women all the time of pregnancy. Pregnancy is not some like guaranteed not thing. It’s everybody is different. And the the the things that can happen absolutely result. Not so much in America in this moment in time. But make no mistake, that’s the direction it would head. In South America, they put women in prison who are mothers, by the way, parents, because they have an obstetric emergency and then they end up in jail for ten years for a quote abortion. That was never an abortion. But the doctor, they show up at the hospital and the doctors are so afraid of prosecution themselves that they will they have to call the police and then the police get brought in and the whole system is [00:36:05][63.0]

Jameela: [00:36:06] The doctor who would remove the fetus could then be tried, but they could be then prosecuted for murder. [00:36:11][5.0]

Elizabeth: [00:36:11] So there’s like so the point is that there’s layers of laws that make it really hard for women to who, by the way, may have wanted that. That may have been a wanted baby that they’ve just lost. So now they’re grieving, they’re in jail. They have left their families. I mean, it’s [00:36:30][18.5]

Jameela: [00:36:30] makes no fucking sense. It’s outrageous. [00:36:33][2.3]

Elizabeth: [00:36:33] It’s so misogynist is what it is, I think? [00:36:36][2.6]

Jameela: [00:36:39] Deeply. I’ll never forget that interview that I mean, obviously, we don’t know her anymore. But Trump, when he said he’s yeah, I think there should be some punishment for the woman. And what about the man? Because he’s got a is like, no, I don’t think any no. I don’t think any punishment for the man. That’s just it was it was just one of the most extraordinary things I think I’ve ever seen on television where I was like, wow, you’re saying that in the in the noughties on television, like that’s genuinely how you feel. That’s extraordinary. And so many people, really, really fucking powerful people agree with you. So how can anyone out there who’s maybe just learning about what a potential serious nightmare and how how very possible this is to happen in the United States? This could happen. This could this could this is not it’s not out of the realms of possibility. It was only a matter of decades ago that we first were able to, with Roe v. Wade, make it something that was accessible and safe. [00:37:35][56.8]

Elizabeth: [00:37:36] Yeah, I think the important thing to [00:37:38][1.8]

Jameela: [00:37:39] How do we support how do we support this cause. [00:37:40][1.4]

Elizabeth: [00:37:41] Yeah, well, for sure you should you should support the Center for Reproductive Rights. It’s @reprorights on all the social meeds. But the the other thing is and if you follow me on social media, I post about it pretty regularly. There’s there are other organizations who are also doing that. But the and you can also support Emily’s List, which advocates for electing pro-choice female candidates to office at every level of government. So state government all the way up through the federal government. And I find that just even doing that is enough. It’s important to remember, too, that, you know, one in four women will access abortion in their life. So this isn’t some rare thing. The other thing is it’s made out like it’s super controversial that Roe v. Wade, there’s so many people that with it’s something like 80 percent of Americans believe that abortion should remain accessible and legal and safe. And the other thing to remember is that when you when when abortion becomes illegal, that doesn’t mean abortion goes away and then it just drives abortion underground. And makes it way less safe for women to access and and also that this is in the time that we’re in right now and I think everybody is trying to do their anti racism work and their their understanding about what systemic issues. This is absolutely one of them, because if you are if you are living in certain communities, abortion is going to you’ll be able to find one. And this disproportionately access to abortion or lack thereof, disproportionately affects low income women, women in marginalized communities across America, in every community. And so this is also just it’s part of a larger ideas, is my point. [00:39:44][122.8]

Jameela: [00:39:46] Control, it’s control. Gloria Steinem talks about this all the time, that it’s like the first like always one of the first moves of fascism is to take control of women’s reproductive rights and control their bodies as men have ownership over it. Yeah. [00:39:57][10.5]

Elizabeth: [00:39:57] And, you know, women have been sort of taking care of this since there have been women, you know, like, you know, there was family planning always. You had a baby, you had to carry it. You were in a caravan. You made sure you didn’t have a baby. And so that one could walk or somebody else could carry. The village was always a part of this. And so this isn’t new. The other the other thing, it’s there’s a whole history to the abortion rights movement in America, and it’s very obviously politically motivated and and, you know, doesn’t actually reflect a lot of people’s understanding about equality and and morality. [00:40:43][46.0]

Jameela: [00:40:44] No, but the the minority who believe that we should have those rights are very loud and clear, very loud, constantly in their papers. There’s a headline last week and they’d written, I can’t believe this is legal. You know, when you’re just too exhausted to sue where they’d written it was a picture of me. I have said in the past that the best decision I’ve ever made was my abortion. And then I took it back and I said cutting bangs was the best decision I ever made. And then my abortion. And it really did save my life. And I wasn’t trying to be trite or glib about it. I was being very, very honest and sincere. It saved my life at the time in which I did it. I was not mentally stable. I was not ready like it was just all wrong for me. My happiness was at stake. I didn’t have what would be needed to give to a child to bring them up safely and or put my body through that. And so I just shouldn’t have to. So I talk about it very frankly. And they’ve put the headline they used was killing my baby. And then they used in inverted commas was the best decision I’ve ever made, says actress Jameela Jamil. They wrote ‘killing my baby,’ as if I’d said that. The the violent language of that literally violent language of that talking about it as if it is already like the the the way that they try to overly not humanize,. [00:42:01][77.0]

Elizabeth: [00:42:02] Dramatize. [00:42:02][0.0]

Jameela: [00:42:03] Dramatize. And like make it seem like it’s a living sentient like Cherub is there rather than just cells in the body. [00:42:10][6.6]

Elizabeth: [00:42:11] Yeah. Well. [00:42:11][0.6]

Jameela: [00:42:11] It’s just like it’s a it’s a whole thing and I’m not, I’m not saying it’s not cells in the body, it’s it it all I’m trying to say is that they romanticize it in order to push a birth that they have no set up for supporting you through once that baby comes out the womb. Once that baby out of the womb there’s no support system for you. If you are a single mother, if you are a teenager, if you are a victim of a crime, there’s no there’s no guarantee of any fucking support anywhere. You’re on your own. So. [00:42:40][28.2]

Elizabeth: [00:42:40] Let me be clear. If we wanted to do away with abortion, we would have forced reversible vasectomies for every male when they turn 16, 17, 18. So when they are ready to become a father, they can reverse it and go become a father. That’s how you get rid of abortion. There’s a whole other side to think about this. [00:43:07][26.8]

Jameela: [00:43:15] What has the experience been like being the storyteller now, being the producer of other people’s stories or being the director, what has that been like for you? Because I know that I’ve heard you talk about the fact that you do not consider it just this big feminist statement. And it’s often treated just as a feminist statement, which is actually just like, no, I just I have a perspective and I would like to share it or I’m interested in helping bring other people’s perspectives to light. It’s a it’s just a part of your humanity. [00:43:41][26.5]

Elizabeth: [00:43:43] Well, the difference really is that when you’re a woman who, you know, plenty of men have directed or created or made stories about really interesting women with agency, there are a lot of good directors that have done that. David Russell comes to mind for some reason, but I was just talking about like Gena Rowlands and these amazing roles that she played back in the day. A woman under the influence, for instance, comes to mind. So there are these these stories exist and men have threatened them forever. The fact that women are now taking over the storytelling for some reason, when I tell if I direct a story about a woman, it’s somehow it’s a feminist statement because look at this woman joining this woman thing. And I don’t know, it’s just sort of like I just want to tell this particular story. And if a man directed it, which is there would be no you wouldn’t say the guy was a feminist. And when have you ever read that? Have you ever read it? Like, well, Ron Howard is directing Cate Blanchett in a Western, so he is now a feminist like you know what I mean? He just told a story with a female protagonist. So that’s the that’s that’s really what I’m talking about. It’s a very interesting dynamic and and a line to walk, because, of course, I am a feminist and of course, I do connect to this story as a director. And of course, I love this character that got created by this actors, but I’m not sure. I’m not sure I’m trying to I’m not trying to be political. I’m not it is political in it’s in its essence because they don’t so few women do it, which is a systemic thing. And that’s a whole other conversation. But just it’s interesting that the perception is that when you take on that some typically male role, like directing a movie and you put women in and you have women behind the scenes writing scripts or being your costume designer, your DP and your department heads, that somehow it’s some giant political it’s presented as a much more political statement than really we’re just we’re just trying to I don’t know [00:46:01][138.7]

Jameela: [00:46:02] It feels it feels a bit like underhanded tokenism sometimes, you know, where where you get treated like if you tell minorities big story, you tell a big story about someone with a disability. It’s the focus on it is the social politics of it. Rather than no, this person has an interesting story. And we just don’t hear many of these stories because we don’t make just nuanced and interesting, complex stories about these types of people. And so I sometimes worry that when when they treat every single thing that we do as a feminist political statement rather than an interesting story that was supposed to be told, it’s a bit like, oh, that’s why you wanted to tell that story, because it’s trendy or it’s it’s centering women. [00:46:40][38.5]

Elizabeth: [00:46:41] I think I think it’s also related to the fact that I’m an activist for women a little more openly than other women, because I think there are women who make films with female protagonists and don’t get this. I don’t know, don’t end up in the press. It’s just like she’s made some feminist statement or something. [00:47:00][19.3]

Jameela: [00:47:01] Yeah and you said that you don’t often get asked technical questions, which I thought was really interesting, that men will be asked about what lenses they’re using or their cinematography style or what they’re how they’re progressing as film makers. And you don’t actually get asked a lot about that sort of stuff. What do you get asked about? [00:47:15][14.1]

Elizabeth: [00:47:16] I don’t get asked about that, I mean, one of my favorite horrible questions was I had an interviewer say to me, so, oh, my gosh, you’re a mom and you directed this movie. And, you know, it’s so much work in your and you acted on this television show at the same time. Like, I mean, don’t you just kind of like take a bath? And I don’t know. I thought at the time I was like, do I want to take a bath? Like, what? And and I kind of realized that the interviewer probably needed a bath. Do you know what I mean? Like she’s bringing her anxiety over my busy life and imagining it and thinking to herself, like I would just I take comfort in long baths. And I kind of was like, yeah, I don’t that’s like me. I don’t take comfort in long baths. I like my working life and being busy and I take showers just like anybody. But more to the point, I was like I could not imagine asking a male director if they needed a long bath. I just thought, has that question ever been posed to a guy, to a leader, to a male leader? [00:48:37][80.6]

Jameela: [00:48:38] Can you imagine if I’m just thinking about it now, can you imagine if a woman had directed The Revenant, you know, that film that they shot in like Arctic temperatures for nine months and Leonardo DiCaprio gets sort of, gets I mean,. [00:48:48][10.0]

Elizabeth: [00:48:48] Ravaged by a bear. [00:48:49][0.8]

Jameela: [00:48:50] You get shagged by a bear. But I I wonder what they would have asked a woman to be like. Do you need a hot water bottle? They never asked him. The director who was out there in subzero temperatures directing all these actors who all like falling ill with pneumonia. They never really asked him much about his comfort or if he needed a long bath. And I bet he fucking did. I would if I directed that bloody movie, but no you’re right there was [00:49:15][24.9]

Elizabeth: [00:49:16] Taking long baths all the time, be in the hot tub every night. [00:49:18][2.7]

Jameela: [00:49:19] There was no you’re right, there was no sort of like, are you ok? it was more like well done. [00:49:23][4.7]

Elizabeth: [00:49:24] It was a lot of well done. Wow. You survived and you got this authenticity and. Yeah, and it wasn’t about like how did you did you wear a down coat every day. [00:49:35][11.0]

Jameela: [00:49:35] Like what brand of down coat. [00:49:38][2.2]

Elizabeth: [00:49:39] Canada Goose. [00:49:39][0.0]

Jameela: [00:49:41] How did you match it to your lipstick Elizabeth? [00:49:41][0.0]

Elizabeth: [00:49:44] How do you remain fashionable on the set of The Revenant. [00:49:47][2.2]

Jameela: [00:49:49] I saw you talk about the fact that you. You you wear dresses deliberately on set sometimes in order to make sure that you I guess because you are trying to make sure that the the insinuation when you are taking a predominantly male role in that, in that you are the director, you are the leader. And more often than not, we’ve seen men take on that role because of this systemic issue. But you don’t want to try to emulate a man in the way that you dress or behave because you think that it’s very empowering and important for people to see that you can do it in a dress, you can do it as a woman, and however your femininity plays out like it doesn’t hinder or help the situation, it makes no difference. What is that? What when did you start doing so? [00:50:41][51.8]

Elizabeth: [00:50:42] A couple of things. One, I really think it’s interesting to just represent a person of power on the set as being someone who can wear a dress, though. Right. And in pink and a headband and whatever else I feel like wearing. [00:50:58][16.4]

Jameela: [00:50:58] Sort of a cone bra. [00:50:58][0.0]

Elizabeth: [00:51:03] Well, you know, look, there’s there is a there is not every director wears sort of like the uniform, but I mean, there is you’re you’re you’re standing up and walking around for 12 hours a day. So, like, I’m not wearing high heels, particularly on sets, but I but I my comfort in a dress is high. I have a high comfort level in a dress. So to me that is also comfort in the way that you need in that job. But I also be totally honest. I had a camera, two women in my camera department one and the camera loader who was in the department came up to me on a project once and said and they they were in their sort of uniform for the camera department. Just everyone was there is typically some sort of cargo. [00:51:51][48.8]

Jameela: [00:51:52] Cargo pants. [00:51:52][0.0]

Elizabeth: [00:51:52] Black shorts,. [00:51:53][0.9]

Jameela: [00:51:54] Black T-shirt. [00:51:55][0.9]

Elizabeth: [00:51:58] Black t shirt. Ok Jameela knows because she’s been on sets. it’s pretty it’s pretty standard. [00:52:02][3.3]

Jameela: [00:52:03] Pockets. [00:52:03][0.0]

Elizabeth: [00:52:03] And it’s and by there, there’s specific reasons for this. You need a lot of pockets in that job. You carry a lot of tools with you at all times. And the black is because you don’t want to reflect in camera and you want to sort of disappear and black is the best color for that. So that is so there are reasons why people dress this way on set. But these women came up to me and said, we love seeing you in a dress. They basically were like it really. We just love that you show up when you wear a dress like your you don’t have to do what we’re doing right now, which is dress like all the guys. And I was just so happy to have heard that from them. And then I was offering them another idea about what the leader of the set looks like. And that it was empowering to them to see it. So I just stuck with it. [00:52:52][49.1]

Jameela: [00:52:53] And I you know, and and I know you’re not trying to make some huge political statement in doing so, but I do think that there is a really important statement made about not trying to project the construct of what masculinity is, a masculinity, therefore being the construct of what power and authority is. There are kind of like just unthought of layers. And I, I just I love the I love the idea of the impact that that has, because I think when I look back on and I’ve been very lucky to work with a lot of women directors, but this definitely and that may just be that choice, but there’s definitely a presence that feels not just in esthetic, but in sort of demeanor and delivery that feels different to when you then see them off set. And it feels more similar to the male directors than I would necessarily expect. But I don’t mean that as a way of judgment. It’s just something I noticed and I realized I’ve never seen a director in a dress. [00:53:53][59.4]

Elizabeth: [00:53:54] It is rare it is rare. You know, it is a rare thing. [00:53:58][4.0]

Jameela: [00:53:59] Where do you continue to grow from? Like, are you just trying stuff out on set and trying new styles and trying new esthetics? Are you going back and studying your old favorite films? Did you ever study under anyone or did you just just jump straight in? I just wondered that because I only ask that because so many men I know have had the luxury of being given the opportunity to to learn right under someone else, regardless of that person’s gender. [00:54:30][30.8]

Elizabeth: [00:54:31] I mean, I took every set as an opportunity to learn. So when I was coming up, I went to what’s called video village onsets. And this is all this language that we’re using is things that you and I understand. I think it’s always hard for listeners to get it. But the video village is where the director and typically the producer and the DP kind of gather while the scene is playing out. And if I wasn’t in that scene. I always tried to be near them and in the video village and and watch how things were playing out and and ask questions, and I very gratefully I worked with really interesting, awesome directors really early on, like I worked with Steven Spielberg on Catch Me If You Can. I worked with Sam Raimi on Spider-Man movies, and I remember being on the set of Spider-Man and it was the DP on that film was Bill Pope who shot Charlie’s Angels with me. And he is how we met. And he and Sam Raimi were planning a shot of Jonah Jameson. I played Betty Brant and the three Spider-Man star Tobey Maguire. Anyway, so I was on set and I was watching them plan out this shot. And in my mind, I was like, well, if I were doing this shot, I would start the camera here and I put it on the dolly and I would back out and I would bring in more of the world and I would have people cross set it off. And that was all in my brain. But then that’s what they set up. They set up the shot that I thought would be the best way to tell that moment of that story. And I thought to myself, oh, OK, cool. Like, I know maybe I know something. Maybe I learned something here. And by the way, I had studied I had directed plays and I studied theater. And I have a masters of fine arts in an acting. And so I worked on every level of kind of storytelling and studied the classics, the Greeks and Shakespeare and Chekhov and Ibsen. And so I have a I have a I bring some of that skill set with me to my career anyway. And then being on sets, you just you just learn, you just sit there and go, OK, wow, that’s how they’re doing this. That’s how this is going to happen. And the other thing that I just love to say to people always is you don’t know how you don’t need to know how to do everything to direct a movie. It’s a collaboration. There’s people that know about lighting. I don’t know everything about lighting or, you know, stops on the camera. And like, I’m not a camera operator. That’s their job. There’s a there’s a, I think a barrier that people think you have to you you can’t get through because you don’t know the technical side of it. Don’t wait learn that on the job. You can learn as you go and if you work with the right partners in your department heads. So I don’t design. I don’t sew costumes. The hell do I know. So you try you bring people into the process with you. And when you find people that when you have a vision for what you want and can communicate it, that’s the most important thing to directing. It’s not. Do you know what the stop is on this lighting setup? You don’t need to know all the technical stuff, the grips and the dollies, and they they’re there to support a vision. Having the vision is the most important thing. [00:58:00][208.6]

Jameela: [00:58:00] A hundred percent. And it’s so important, I think, for women in particular to hear that, because I think that the statistical evidence of the fact that we don’t put ourselves up for jobs that we don’t feel a million percent qualified for, and yet statistically, men are much more likely to throw their hat in the ring for a job than they have absolutely no qualification for, just in the hopes of like, yeah, you know what? I’m going to back myself. I’ll figure it out. I’ll fake it till I make it. And I feel as though we are more held back by the imposter syndrome. I talk about this a fair bit on this podcast, but I have never and don’t be like me because I’m basically catch me if you can. But I have never known how to do any of the things that I’ve gone on to do, any of them. And I’m figuring it out. I’m not always fucking perfect, but I’ve learned and I’ve grown and I’ve had to. And when it’s a fucking disaster, it’s hilarious. Later, later, much later sometimes. [00:58:55][54.7]

Elizabeth: [00:58:55] I do want to say imposter syndrome. That’s totally real. Fake it till you make it totally real. The statistics that you’re mentioning totally real. Women have to be typically need to be asked to run for office. Like they don’t just walk in and go like, you know what, I deserve to be on a school board. They need to be like, you know talked into it. And same with directing and any of these sort of big leadership jobs. Often women need to be asked, right. They don’t put themselves up to the promotion. They hope somebody promotes them. But I will say that I also there’s the other side of that is that the stakes for women are higher. The consequences of not getting it right are higher for women. I think there is a a real fear that is rooted in our culture that if you do a bad job, that’s it. That’s your chance. And you blew it. And so I want to recognize that for women to like that, that those stakes feel really high and I get it. I felt it, too. I feel it. And I understand that it is it is an impediment to asking for more responsibility, more money, more resources to do things. Because when we mess up, you know, they don’t they don’t let it go. You know, it’s not like. [01:00:20][85.2]

Jameela: [01:00:22] They don’t but then at the same time, you and I have both had hits and misses in our careers and carried on and the world didn’t stop turning. And I think that’s also pretty important. So, yes, it is real that we will be shamed, maybe a bit more for it. We will be judged harshly for it. And the standards are higher for us to meet. At the very, very start, we give men more of an opportunity to learn to be apprentices, to kind of, you know, work their way up slowly. And then we kind of sometimes panic, realize, oh, no, we’ve not represented this minority or women until we’re trying to throw one in quickly like way in the deep end. And she doesn’t swim. If she sinks at all, then that was confirmation that we shouldn’t have ever had a woman in that role or a person with disability in that role or a marginalized person of any kind. They use it as a kind of confirmation bias. And so what’s so important is that you recognize that system, recognize the intention of that system, which is to make us believe that there’s a good reason that we have all been excluded all this time. To chip away at our fucking self-confidence and realize that actually the best thing you can do is stick around, stick around, carry on, learn something, grow from it. Like, just just keep pushing. You are still directing. You are still acting. You have not had to win an Academy Award for every single thing you’ve done. You continue to grow, you continue to thrive, and you continue to excite all of us who are following your career with the decisions that you make. And and it’s really fun to watch you grow as a producer and as a director and and feel like we’re all on that journey with you. And and if anyone has any doubts about what I’m saying, go back and watch the pilot of The Good Place and see what a pile of shit I am. I have no idea what I’m doing. I’m having a panic attack the whole time I’m looking. I couldn’t even look Kristen Bell in the eyes for seven episodes. For the first seven episodes, there were only thirteen in the first season there were only 13. I would try to deliver all of my lines to to William Jackson Harper that all were directed at Kristen Bell. I would have to say them to William Jackson Harper and quickly dot my eyes back to her because I felt so ashamed of being there because I had no idea of what I was doing. So go back and watch it. You can literally watch me grow and figure this shit out in real time. [01:02:35][133.0]

Elizabeth: [01:02:35] Yeah, but you know what? Someone thought you belong there and that you were right and they were right. Yeah. And they gave you the opportunity and then you exactly what you’re saying. And then you grew, you grew into that because someone else had the confidence that this is the right person for this job. By the way, I’m grateful for everybody that’s ever said yeah Liz Banks, let’s let her do let’s try it. I think you can do it. That’s it is important. You do need those you do need those moments in your life, you know. [01:03:03][28.0]

Jameela: [01:03:04] Yeah. And I mean, lucky for you, the first time I believe the first time you directed was Pitch Perfect Two. And the message for all young women out there is just keep going, keep going, try anyway, as you said. So Elizabeth Banks, before I lose you, when you tell me what do you weigh? [01:03:19][15.5]

Elizabeth: [01:03:21] I weigh being a great mom, being a good daughter, being an artist. And I weigh my confidence that has grown over time. And I weigh my and I weigh my optimism about the future. [01:03:42][21.0]

Jameela: [01:03:43] Love that. I love you and see you soon if we find each other around the world. Thank you so much for listening to this week’s episode of I Weigh with Jameela Jamil is produced a research by myself, Jameela Jamil, Aaron Finnegan and Kimie Gregory. It is edited by Andrew Carson. And the beautiful music you’re hearing now is made by my boyfriend, James Blake. If you haven’t already, please rate, review and subscribe to the show. It’s a great way to show your support. We also have a bonus series exclusively on Stitcher Premium called Ask Jameela Anything check it out. You can get a free month to Stitcher Premium by going to stitcher.com premium and using the promo code I Weigh. Lastly over at I Weigh, we would love to hear from you and share what you weigh at the end of this podcast. You can leave us a voicemail at one eight one eight six six zero five five four three. Or email us what you weigh at IWeighpodcast@gmail.com. And now we would love to pass the mic to one of our fabulous listeners. [01:04:40][56.8]

Listener: [01:04:42] I weigh a business owner, a rape and PTSD survivor, succeeding as a female wildlife camera operator. Children’s liver disease survivor, a good listener, lonely sister, depressive. A National Geographic explorer and activist. Being 10 years into being probably James Blake’s biggest fan. I’m hyper mobile, I have a phone phobia, so this is very difficult and my charity fund raiser. [01:04:42][0.0]

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