Anna Gunn Almost Let a Body Insecurity Derail Her Career

From ELLE

It's a good time to be a woman on screen. The future of Star Wars is female, the Ghostbusters are girls, and even the Iron Throne has a (literal) femme fatale on top.

In the financial world, things are shakier: 80 percent of American women report they're afraid to talk about money, there's never been a female president of a world bank, and the workplace often slams the door on working moms.

Enter Equity, Wall Street's first female-driven thriller. Written, directed, and financed by women (read Ben Dickinson's review here), the movie follows Naomi (Anna Gunn) as she fights for a promotion in the midst of a major scandal. With two-faced promises and backstabbing galore, the film is tense and arch, with a "nobody wins" attitude that's both darkly funny and totally sad.

We met with Gunn in downtown Manhattan to discuss the project-her first since Breaking Bad came to a close.

So first things first: How is your family doing in the meth business?

Ha! We're good. You know, we always said the sequel [to Breaking Bad] should be Skyler and Marie moving to a tropical island and finally enjoying their lives.

No way! In the sequel, Skyler and Marie band together to run Hillary Clinton's super PAC!

That's right. They're with her! Absolutely. Call the writers and let them know.

A lot of Equity is about how women negotiate differently than men. Do you have a male agent or a female agent?

My agent is a very powerful woman, Lorrie Bartlett at ICM. And we do talk about salary, and about the fact that we need to look for female roles like [the one in Equity]. I'm in a position that I'm lucky to be in, and that I worked hard to be in. I learned to say that recently, through this movie.

That you're not "lucky," you're talented and hardworking?

Yeah. The consultants we had on the movie-who also became our investors, which is extraordinary-they work in finance. They're extremely powerful and great at their jobs. And these women said to me, 'Anna, stop talking about luck. You earned this.' And in the movie, [my character] says, 'You can't be afraid to want [success] and you can't be afraid to admit out loud that you want it and you're going to go after it.'

Did playing a successful banker teach you to demand more as an actress?

Absolutely. I learned a lot-there's a line in the film where I say, 'Learn what you value, learn where your attention goes.' As an actor-and I say actor, but actress or actor, whatever-I've had to learn to be very open about what I want. I ask for it, even if I may not get it. I feel like it's worth the ask. And I'm not asking for bottles of Evian water to bathe in or anything....

No green M&Ms?

'You didn't bring me green M&Ms?! This is outrageous!' [Laughing] Yeah, no. But I feel like it's important to be forthright about equality. If you're doing the same work, you should get the same amount of money, and you should get the same respect. It's about valuation. It's about not being afraid to ask for those things.

What about in the workplace? A lot of actors talk about saying yes to a situation, but sometimes at work, you know something is a bad idea....

If you don't agree with the direction something is going in, at least at work, you should always try it first, unless it's dangerous or damaging. But if you have an opinion about the direction your work should be taking, say it. Then back it up with proof and other solutions.

There's a lot of talk about women helping each other in the workplace. But as an actress-as a writer, too, honestly-there's often one job and you're competing with other women to get it. How do you navigate competition and sisterhood?

In my experience, you get a job for a reason. Your work life happens for a reason.

What do you mean?

One of the best learning experiences I ever had was in my early twenties. I was just starting out in L.A. as an actress, and I wanted to be a reader for auditions-somebody who reads the same part over and over again, opposite actors trying out for specific roles-so that I could experience what it was like to be in the room where casting decisions happen. I saw so much-how people going out for a job can sabotage themselves, how nervousness and fear can play out, how you might be brilliant and blow away everyone in the room but still not be quite right for the job. And that taught me so much. We don't have to push each other out of the way, because the universe will push us out of the way, or push us towards our goals when it's time. There really is enough to go around...or there's starting to be. We're moving in the right direction, and in order to keep going, we have to support each other's work.

After a stressful day, it's hard to leave work at the office. As an actress, you must come home drained and exhausted sometimes. How do you leave work on-set?

Oh, that's taken years to figure out. I have to remind myself, Stop thinking about the future. Stop thinking about what happened at work today, or another choice you could have made. Just be with your kids. Just be with your friends. Enjoy your victories. Stop second-guessing things that have already happened.

That's so hard!

If you have to go back through your day in your head, try to go back to only the good things. Look at those, and what you did well. Otherwise, life kind of passes you by.

Little-known fact: You were also on 'Seinfeld,' playing Jerry's girlfriend.

When I got my role on Seinfeld, the show was already huge. I was so nervous on my first day. I remember meeting everyone and holding my script and just shaking. I recently met with Larry David to talk about doing a new project together, and I reminded him about it. 'Remember the time when we met, and I was so scared?'

What made you so intimidated? Doing live comedy?

No, it's the dumbest thing that made me nervous. At the time, I was so self-conscious about being taller than my male costars. And when I went to audition, it was a big time for clogs.

Like the chunky wooden ones?

Yeah, the ones that are still cool, right?

Clogs are always cool.

Nice! I remember going over to shake Jerry's hand, and I was blabbering to him, 'Hi, I'm Anna, I'm not normally this tall but I'm wearing these giant clogs.' Oh, God. And Larry [David] is standing right next to him, and they both stared at me, and I remember thinking, Anna, stop talking! You are going to lose this job because they're going to think you're a crazy person. Thank goodness they didn't fire me, because getting to see them work was amazing. They would say a joke, and if it didn't work, they would change it right there, just throw stuff out to each other and go again until the audience laughed. They were fearless and focused. It was cool.

What did Larry David say when you reminded him that you basically turned into a puddle?

He laughed so hard.

Will you wear clogs to your next meeting with him?

No, I don't have that pair anymore. But apparently I should get some new ones. Apparently they're still cool.