Scorsese Asked Again About Giving Women Bigger Roles; Female Head Of His Production Company Unloads

During a wide-ranging interview with The New York Times published Thursday, iconic director Martin Scorsese was asked again about his handling of female characters in his films amid criticism that he doesn’t give them big enough roles — a complaint sparked by the nearly silent role played by Anna Paquin in his new film, “The Irishman.” While Scorsese largely shrugged off the larger question, sticking to defending his take on Paquin’s character, the president of his production company, who happens to be a woman, felt compelled to come strongly to the director’s defense.

In the interview, Scorsese addresses a variety of topics, including his public feud with Marvel and his decision to turn down a producer role on director Todd Phillips’ “Taxi”-like “Joker.” One of the topics interviewer Dave Itzkoff couldn’t resist was the recent criticism about Scorsese’s female characters, as expressed by The Guardian’s Beatrice Loayza in an op-ed titled “Seen but not heard: why don’t women speak in The Irishman?”