During The Hollywood Reporter‘s most recent Actress Roundtable, “The Good Wife” star Julianna Margulies sat down alongside Jennifer Lopez, Kerry Washington, Kirsten Dunst, Sarah Paulson, Regina King and Constance Zimmer. Among the many topics of discussion — the term “diva,” onscreen nudity, the future of network TV — was Margulies’ difficulty getting a producer credit on the show, which just concluded after a seven-season run.
READ MORE: ‘The Good Wife’ Series Finale Wasn’t Great, But It Still Treated Us Like Grown-Ups
Moderator Lacey Rose likens Margulies’ situation to that of Julia-Louis Dreyfus, who faced similar opposition and “wondered whether that fight would have been as great and as long if she were a man.” “Are those things you felt you had to fight for,” Rose asks, “and, if so, is gender a factor?”
Margulies says it wasn’t her showrunners who gave her problems — “They were thrilled because the writers room was in Los Angeles so I was their eyes on set” she says — but rather the Producers Guild of America. “To try to prove my job to them in order for them to accept me as a producer? I still don’t think I’m in the Producers Guild, and it’s been three years.”
After a shocked “wow” from Paulson, Margulies continues:
“And I can’t tell you what I do as a producer on that show and the fires I put out. I’ll see something happening, and I’ll immediately turn off my actor hat and go, ‘OK, this isn’t going to work for you, let’s figure it out'” But they send you lists to fill out. ‘Are you a part of the budget? Are you a part of the…?’ And I go, ‘Well, no, because that was already in place, but I do this, this and this.’ None of that’s on there at all, and so they call it a vanity title, which is incredibly insulting.”
Indiewire has reached out to the PGA for comment.
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