Juliette Binoche Thinks Women Got Short-Changed in 'Godzilla'

Juliette Binoche makes her (very short) Godzilla appearance

Even Juliette Binoche thinks that Godzilla stepped on its female characters. (Warning: spoilers to follow.) The Oscar winner shared top billing in this summer’s monster hit, a reboot of the Japanese giant-lizard franchise. Unfortunately, audiences didn’t see much of her intriguing scientist character, who met a quick demise in order to further the plot for her onscreen husband and son (played by Bryan Cranston and Aaron Taylor-Johnson, respectively). This week, Indiewire asked Binoche, who stars in the upcoming movie Clouds of Sils Maria, whether she had fun making Godzilla. “I don’t know how much fun you can have when you have to die in two seconds,” the French actress replied with a laugh, “and you’re the one real woman character and you’re dead in three minutes and 45 seconds.” As Yahoo noted in an essay this summer, the few women in Godzilla (including Binoche, Oscar nominee Sally Hawkins, and Elizabeth Olsen) were all cast in remarkably brief, thankless roles. Binoche says she took the role because director Gareth Edwards wrote her “a beautiful letter.” On the plus side, she got to make Quentin Tarantino cry. “Well, Tarantino said to me, ‘That was the first time I’ve ever cried during a 3D blockbuster. I had to take off my glasses to wipe away my tears,’” Binoche told Indiewire. “I took it as a compliment.”

Watch Binoche’s big scene in Godzilla below:

Photo credit: Warner Bros.