Why Playing Zelda Perkins In She Said Hit So Close To Home For Samantha Morton

Maria Schrader's 2022 film "She Said" is a terse and damning look into the depths of Harvey Weinstein's sex crimes. The film's main characters are the real-life New York Times investigative reporters Megan Twohy (Carey Mulligan) and Jodi Kantor (Zoe Kazan) who struggle endlessly trying to get some of Weinstein's many, many victims on the record with stories of their abuse and assault at his hands. In her film, Schrader plays an actual audio recording of Weinstein's crimes, and visits the hotel rooms where they took place. One of Weinstein's victims, Ashley Judd, even appears as herself. "She Said" not only relates Weinstein's mob-like intimidation tactics — he threatens violence and legal action to keep victims from coming forward — but exposes a complex structure of non-disclosure agreements and legal doublespeak to prevent any mention of his crimes. It's an intense drama, and one that will spark outrage for those both familiar and unfamiliar with the case, for which Weinstein is currently serving a 23-year prison sentence. 

Halfway through "She Said," Kantor meets a woman named Zelda Perkins (Samantha Morton) at a diner, and it's this conversation that sparks the deeper investigation into the aforementioned NDAs. This is not, Perkins says, about a single rich man leveraging his power to get away with hurting women, but about a whole legal system constructed to insulate him. Morton only appears in the one scene, but it's an intense performance that changes the course of the investigation and the movie. 

In a recent interview with Variety, Morton talked about playing Perkins, and how important the role was to her. Morton acknowledged that telling the story of Weinstein's crimes was important for the victims, but she also had a personal stake in the role, having met Perkins herself.

The real Zelda Perkins worked as Weinstein's PA for many years, and she knew openly about his criminal activity. As is said multiple times throughout "She Said," a lot of his activity was often maddeningly dismissed under a vague sort of "that's just Harvey being Harvey" attitude. In an interview with the Daily Mail in 2022, Perkins spoke at length about Weinstein's frequent sexual advances, acts of exhibitionism, and how he bullied her into an NDA when she tried to confront him about his assault of Rowena Chiu, a friend of hers. 

Morton admitted that she and Perkins differ considerably, but that it was important to do the woman justice. That was more important to Morton than any kind of importance the film itself may bear. In her words: 

"It wasn't just about the overall project. I'd met Zelda in the past — we have close mutual friends and she's someone I really, really admire. So for me, it was about Zelda [...] It was not about what I wanted or needed from the movie, it was all about Zelda."

Indeed, Morton didn't want to play the scene until she knew for sure that Perkins was comfortable with the dialogue. There is always a danger of making a sensitive story like the one told in "She Said" into something salacious or overtly melodramatic. For Morton, however, a balance seems to have been struck. Rebecca Lenkiewicz's script received Perkins' approval, and Morton agreed to play the part. Morton said:

"Once I was offered the role it was a necessity for me to make sure that Zelda was happy with the script and how the producers were making it and with my dialogue [...] I told her I'd only do it if she was happy."

According to the Variety article, Perkins did indeed have some concerns about adapting the Weinstein criminal investigation into a fictionized film. Perkins, who has since founded the anti-NDA activism group Can't Buy My Silence, wanted to ensure that "She Said" looked less at the more emotionally harrowing tale of victims, and more into the central problem of Weinstein's frustratingly persistent legal protection. Once Lenkiewicz's script was altered to reflect Perkins' reasonable demands, Morton felt free to play the scene. 

Now comfortable, Morton allowed for a more fictional element to creep into the movie. The facts were not altered, but Perkins' actual voice and mannerisms were not necessary for Morton to give a good performance. The actress said that she was finally free to, well, act. The mood and message of the scene was set, and how she got to create Zelda Perkins, the film character. In her words: 

"When I'm playing real people, I need freedom to make the person on the page a character and bring them to life. [...] I was trying to capture her essence. You want to own the character and make it your own. [...] With Zelda, when she's discussing the problems she has already thought out the solutions, which is incredible to me [...] I'm more of a bull in a china shop and I've had to learn to think before I speak and take a more measured approach when I see an injustice."

"She Said" is currently available to stream on Peacock.