After decades in the film industry, Heather Graham is looking to change the game and she’s ready to build something of her own to do it. Starting out in the 1980s as a teenager, Graham saw first hand how few opportunities existed for women behind the camera. Back then, directing wasn’t even considered an option for most women. “There just weren’t many female directors when I started. It wasn’t cool. It wasn’t encouraged,” she says.
Today, things have shifted. Graham points to Greta Gerwig’s billion-dollar success with Barbie as proof that films with a feminist edge can find massive audiences. But she knows there’s still a long way to go. That’s why she’s thinking about launching her own production company, following in the footsteps of Reese Witherspoon and Margot Robbie, women who have built platforms to tell stories that centre women’s experiences.
After decades in front of the camera, Heather Graham is now creating opportunities for women filmmakers behind itGetty Images
Graham’s own journey into writing and directing began with her 2018 film Half Magic, a comedy that tackled shame around female sexuality with humour. Last year, she returned with Chosen Family, a personal story loosely based on her own life, about finding strength in friendships when family relationships break down. Graham has been estranged from her family for 30 years and says making the film helped her process that loss while injecting it with humour.
She’s not slowing down. Up next, Graham will appear alongside Nicolas Cage in The Gunslingers and is working on a new script called Triggered, a mix of serious drama and humour, and another project centred around revenge, with a strong female lead.
Heather Graham is now making waves as a director and producer for female-driven storiesGetty Images
Beyond acting, writing, and directing, Graham feels passionate about changing what audiences see on screen. She believes that women’s stories are still underrepresented and sees a real demand for them. “If women are always the side character, you grow up thinking your story doesn’t matter. But it does,” she says.
For Graham, taking control means not waiting around for better roles, it means creating them herself, and building the kind of Hollywood where more women get to tell their own stories.
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