With Charlie's Angels, Elizabeth Banks fulfilled her biggest project yet as a filmmaker. The latest continuation of the '70s TV show and the series of early-2000s movies has a packed cast, including Kristen Stewart, Naomi Scott, Ella Balinska and Banks herself. The film, which currently sports a fresh Rotten Tomatoes score of 65 percent, is also loaded with a myriad of cameos. To assemble the Angel recruits who appear in the film, Banks made a wish list of impressive women.

"I always wanted Hailee Steinfeld to be in the film if we could. I was looking for exceptional women in their field, because that's what Charlie was looking for all along," Banks tells The Hollywood Reporter. "Charlie is always looking for exceptional, gutsy women who have grit and resilience. So Danica Patrick has proven that; Ronda Rousey — proven that; Laverne Cox — proven that. So I just felt like these were women who really represent what it means to be a Charlie's Angel."

Banks is best known as an actor, but she's made a name for herself as a filmmaker with Pitch Perfect 2, which grossed $287 million on a $30 million budget. In a recent conversation with THR, she discusses creating an actor-friendly environment ("I put a premium on the hair and makeup trailer") and the meta-nature of being a director whose character in the movie also directs the angels.

So what excites you more these days: a great role or the chance to helm a cool project like Charlie's Angels from start to finish?

Ooh. A great role. (Laughs.) Helming something from start to finish is typically a much longer and more involved process.

As you gain more and more experience directing, do you now find yourself dreaming up fancy tracking shots or researching certain cameras or lenses?

(Laughs.) I'm not that enamored with all the technical stuff. I do love composing shots, and I do like trying to figure out what the best way to tell a story is.

I just felt like this film was an opportunity to honor the Charlie's Angels universe. I call it a universe. (Laughs.) I felt it was thematically on point as a feminist and as a filmmaker that I stand on the shoulders of the women that came before me and that these angels stand on the shoulders of the angels that came before them. Drew (Barrymore), Cameron (Diaz) and Lucy (Liu) also stood on the shoulders of Farrah (Fawcett), Jaclyn (Smith) and Kate (Jackson). We're all part of a legacy of a sorority, and that really mattered to me.

Source: https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/