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“A lot of wives and girlfriends.”
Not exactly a great stretch – but those are the roles Reese Witherspoon says women used to be offered.
Sitting alongside Jennifer Aniston, as stars and executive producers of The Morning Show on Apple TV+, she says streaming services are proving positive for women in their industry.
“Audiences are very diverse and they’re 50 percent women, their stories weren’t being told. Women had a narrow range of things to play,” she tells Radio 1 Newsbeat.
The #MeToo Movement
The drama is one of the first series to be offered on the Apple service. Users have to pay £4.99 per month to access shows.
Set behind the scenes of an American TV breakfast show, it uses the #MeToo movement as a fundamental part of the storyline.
”It would feel irresponsible not to address it considering it was happening in the culture as we were telling the story,” adds Jennifer.
”We were all made very aware that darker stuff than I could ever imagine was going on.”
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It’s the first time Jennifer Aniston has starred in a TV show since Friends came off air in 2004.
She plays presenter Alex Levy who’s coming to terms with the news that her co-host of 15 years (played by Steve Carell) has been accused of sexually harassing junior members of their team.
It has parallels to the real-life story of former American host Matt Lauer, who was sacked by the NBC Today show in 2017. He denies all the allegations against him.
”I think we’re all finding our way in this cultural shift and learning what role we play, so it was important to have men be part of that conversation. Steve Carell being part of the show was a huge thing. It was how he decided to join the conversation about sexual harassment and sexism and ageism.”
The show only added in the #MeToo storyline later in the production process but, as executive producers, both stars believe their show has a role to play.
”I think the show will move people to check themselves at the door and see what’s going on at their work and what they have allowed to happen or turn a blind eye to,” says Aniston.
Both are adamant they’re enjoying both filming and producing on the show – describing it in unison as ”so fulfilling”.
According to Jennifer, “We were almost doing it without being given the title. I just like to be involved.”
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However, the pair suggest it’s only because of streaming that they’ve been given their production roles.
Reese Witherspoon says: “I’ve found with the emergence of streaming, we’re getting much more diverse storytelling.
”Creators like Jordan Peel and Lena Waithe. You have us as producers. Ten years ago, this isn’t a project they’d let us spearhead”.
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Listen to Newsbeat live at 12:45 and 17:45 weekdays – or listen back here.
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