Writer-director Sarah Polley had a successful career as a child actor. By eight, she had appeared in several TV series and films and was cast to play Sally Salt in the notorious “The Adventures of Baron Munchausen,” Terry Gilliam’s adventure fantasy film. While Polley’s family was thrilled about it, she recalls an out-of-control production, with “unsafe and scary situations” on set.
“As a child to be in that kind of out-of-control environment, and to not feel protected by most of the adults around me, I think [it] was not a great experience,” she says.
Those negative experiences informed her differently about casting children for her latest and Oscar-nominated feature film “Women Talking.” She discusses how she views child acting, directing her first feature and documentary, and the challenges and surprises of making “Women Talking.”
First, Kim Masters and Matt Belloni delve into Netflix’s reshuffling of its top executives, plus the 2023 Oscar nominations.