Why did Emily Ratajkowski quit acting?

Image source: Getty / Gisela Schober

In a candid interview with the Los Angeles Times published April 6, Emily Ratajkowski reflected on the treatment of women in Hollywood and his personal experiences with misogyny during his time in the industry. Although Ratajkowski is primarily known for her modeling prowess, she has spent nearly two decades pursuing an acting career. As of 2019, however, her screen time has stopped. In the interview, Ratajkowski explained why she basically chose to quit acting: It was largely because of Hollywood executives’ failure to treat her like a human being.

“I didn’t think, ‘Oh, I’m an artist who acts and that’s my outlet,'” she said of her attempts to establish herself as a serious actress. like a piece of meat that people judged saying, ‘Does she have anything other than her [breasts]?'”

In 2014, Ratajkowski landed a breakout role as Nick’s (Ben Affleck) mistress Andie on “Gone Girl,” after which she and her team worked to prove she was a “serious actress.” with longevity. Prior to her appearance on “Gone Girl,” Ratajkowski landed smaller roles in movies and TV series like “iCarly” on Nickelodeon.

After these early roles, she was cast in Robin Thicke’s “Blurred Lines” music video. In her 2022 book essay, “My Body,” she alleged that Thicke groped her while filming the video. “Suddenly, out of nowhere, I felt the coolness and strangeness of a stranger’s hands taking my bare breasts from behind,” the excerpt reads. “Instinctively, I pulled away, looking at Robin Thicke. He smiled an awkward smile and stumbled back, his eyes hidden behind his sunglasses. My head turned towards the darkness beyond the set .”

In 2020, tired of making herself “digestible to the powerful men of Hollywood,” Ratajkowski decided to fire her acting agent, sales rep, and manager. “I didn’t trust them,” she told the LA Times. “I was like, ‘I can handle receiving phone calls. I’m going to make these decisions. None of you have my interests at heart. And you all hate women.'”

Most recently, she played Elyse alongside Theo James in the 2019 crime drama “Lying and Stealing.” In 2022, she also made an appearance as herself on comedian Ziwe Fumudoh’s late-night talk show, “Ziwe.” Her last audition was for “Triangle of Sadness,” but the role she was vying for eventually went to the late Charlbi Dean Kriek.

In an additional excerpt from her book, Ratajkowski recounted feeling unsafe and outraged while attending a WME party with her now ex-husband, Sebastian Bear-McClard. “I thought about how [Bear-McClard] had slipped into the room, a room full of men who only two years before had kissed Harvey Weinstein’s ring and encouraged their young female clients to date him in hotel rooms,” he said. she wrote, “I hated that my husband was tied to these men at all.”

Speaking to the Los Angeles Times, she elaborated on this theme: “And maybe that’s why right now I’m not really interested in male POVs. Because they were lies. And I don’t talk about infidelity. It’s a fucked up world. Like, Hollywood is fucked up. And it’s dark,” she told the outlet. “Obviously it would be nice to be with someone who is in the industry or understands it, but I don’t think I can. That was what this essay was about…I even had some hard to be at a party like that. But then having a part of me that was so connected to it was even harder.” Since her divorce, Ratajkowski had been romantically involved with Pete Davidson, Eric André and Harry Styles.

Although his decision to take a step back from comedy was a long time in coming, Ratajkowski continues to leave his mark in other ways. A proud mom of one with a thriving modeling career, it looks like she’s doing just fine on her own.