It’s hard to talk about How To Have Sex without thinking about the #MeToo movement and the struggle for female voices to be heard in Hollywood, in front of and behind the camera. For Mia, she sees change happening not just in How To Have Sex being made – but the huge reception it’s received and conversations its started.
“Having that open dialogue is important, but we’ve still got a really long way to go,” she says. “People want change… they want these conversations.”
When it comes to her own empowerment, Mia tells GLAMOUR she finds it in her own conversations with women, citing the ethos of the film and becoming a new mum as reasons for this. “Recently it’s really resonated with me, just speaking freely with other women and realising we all have this camaraderie,” she says. “Walking out of those conversations, I feel so empowered.”
It’s a testament to the movement forward Hollywood that has taken that Mia has been able to seamlessly handle new motherhood – she welcomed her first child with actor Tom Leach earlier this year – with starring in a critically-acclaimed film without having her capabilities or time questioned.
“That was always a big fear of mine, growing up in the industry, [thinking] ‘how on earth do you make that work as as a mum as well?’ But the support has been incredible…” she said.
Mia isn’t sure what the future holds for her professionally, but feels more self-assured as she navigates motherhood. “For the first time ever, I’m not stressed about what’s next,” she says, hoping that she will be “telling stories that matter to people”. She has done this and more with How To Have Sex, with its impact having already reached far beyond the cast and crew’s wildest dreams.
“When we were making the film, it was very much like, ‘if one person can walk away and have a conversation with their mates, and it’d be positive for them, then we’ve done something good’. But there has been that tenfold.”
For Mia, the greatest reason that change will happen through films like How To Have Sex, though, is because it’s clear that people now want these changes to happen.
“There is a the need for change, but there’s the want for it as well,” she says. “And having the want for it, I think is the thing that is very positive.”
How To Have Sex is available to watch in cinemas now.