Geena Davishad nothing but praise forZoë Kravitzand Channing Tatum. Davis will appear inPussy Island, Kravitz’s directorial debut, which is expected to release in 2023 and stars Tatum. After receiving the Governors Award on behalf of the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media at Monday night’s Primetime Emmy Awards Ceremony,Davis spoke with ET, calling Tatum “incredible” and Kravitz “amazing.”
“She’s a phenomenal director. Yeah, phenomenal. She did a great, great job. So prepared and confident but fluid, you know? I mean, just everything about it was perfect,” Davis said about Kravitz.
Davis will appear in the upcoming film as Tatum’s assistant. The actress teased that her character is “not very good” as an assistant but that Tatum’s character keeps her “around for some reason.”
Pussy Islandfollows Frida (Naomi Ackie), a young cocktail waitress living in Los Angeles whose interest is piqued by tech mogul and philanthropist Slater King (Tatum). When Frida is invited to a party on King’s private island, she discovers that things are different from what she expects.
During a past interview with Deadline, Tatum spoke about his character, saying:
“Slater is a wild character, an extremely committed version — psychotic possibly — but an extreme version of myself. I’m very interested to see what humans are capable of, physically, mentally, spiritually, energetically, all of it. He wants to know what people are capable of, what they want, and what they are capable of when they want something.”
Pussy Islandstars Tatum, Ackie, and Simon Rex. Kravitz co-wrote the film with E.T. Feigenbaum. Kravitz co-produces the film with Bruce Cohen, Tiffany Persons and Tatum’s Free Association.
A Force in Film
Davis is an Academy Award and Golden Globe Award recipient whoseimpressive list of film creditsincludesTootsie, Beetlejuice, The Fly,andThelma and Louise, but her notable efforts in Hollywood extend past her work as an actress. In 2007, she founded the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media which focuses on research to support gender representation, inclusivity, and the reduction of negative stereotypes in productions across all media outlets. In 2015, the actress founded the Bentonville Film Festival to elevate and support underrepresented filmmakers.
On Monday, Shonda Rhimes and Sarah Paulson honored the organization as the recipient of the Governors' Award, which recognizes extraordinary and unique contributions made in the television industry. Davis and Madeline Di Nonno, the organization’s president and CEO, accepted the award. During the speech, which followed a win by Lizzo where she recalled wanting to see people that resembled her in the media when she was a child, Davis said:
“Tonight is about honoring the best in television, and as you know and as Lizzo knows, television can often directly impact how people see themselves and judge their value in the world. In the time since I launched the institute, we’ve made a great deal of progress but there’s still more work to do."
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