She Said, the relevant movie torn off from newspapers headlines, details the exhaustive work of journalists to help expose Harvey Weinstein, a former Hollywood mogul and convicted sex offender.
The actress-activist, who is 54, plays a small but pivotal role as herself. It is probably Ashley Judd’s most personal feature yet–literally and symbolically.
Judd was greeted with a standing ovation at Thursday’s world premiere of She Said at New York Film Festival, where she was joined by other Weinstein accusers, who stood and embraced each other after the screening.
“First of all, I just want to acknowledge my sisters and thank them for their courage,” Judd said during a post-screening Q&A.
Her voice was cracking as she paid tribute to her late mom, country singer Naomi Judd, who died in April after long battle with mental illness.
“I just remember when I was speaking with my mother about this, she said, ‘Oh, go get ’em, honey.’ … She was just enthralled by my audacity (to speak out), as I later heard from our friends.”
Judd recalled how New York Times journalist Nicholas Kristof initially reached out to her about talking to Kantor, describing how “it was very easy for me to tell this story. … It was very validating when someone finally wanted to listen and do something about it. And the film was the next step in that.
“It’s so important to be in our truth and to have our righteousness in our story,” she said. “So it was a really simple thing for me to do and I was very grateful for the opportunity.”
