Zoë Kravitz says good films can come from bad people – and shares her admiration of Roman Polanski’s work

Zoë Kravitz has spoken out about the importance of separating the art from the artist, while expressing her admiration for Roman Polanski’s films.

In a new interview with Esquire, the Blink Twice writer-director said she does not shy away from appreciating a cancelled directors’ work, citing Polanski’s Rosemary’s Baby and The Tenant as two of her favourite movies.

Polanski left the US in 1978 after pleading guilty to the statutory rape of a 13-year-old girl, who has since defended the director. Polanski has denied sexual misconduct claims from five other women. The director is still making films, with his most recent feature The Palace debuting at Venice 2023.

“It’s OK that somebody bad was involved in something good,” Kravitz said. “What are we supposed to do, get rid of America?”

Kravitz added that while it might be considered “controversial” to some people to still love Polanski’s films, his personal life does not impact her fandom.

Other directors Kravitz listed as inspirations include Quentin Tarantino, Martin Scorsese, Paul Thomas Anderson, Penny Marshall, David Fincher, and the Coen brothers.

Kravitz’s directorial debut Blink Twice, starring Channing Tatum, has also been met with some controversy of its own as the original title “Pussy Island” was rejected.

“I wrote this insane fever dream of a novella,” Kravitz said of creating the story. As for the title change, per the request of studio Amazon MGM, she added: “Am I upset that there is a show called ‘Dicks: The Musical’? Kind of. […] What’s interesting is that they tested the title and the people who were most offended were women.”

Kravitz previously told Entertainment Weekly that she was trying to “reclaim” the word “pussy” with the script. However, it didn’t go down well with test audiences.

“Interestingly enough, after researching it, women were offended by the word, and women seeing the title were saying, ‘I don’t want to see that movie,’ which is part of the reason I wanted to try and use the word, which is trying to reclaim the word, and not make it something that we’re so uncomfortable using,” Kravitz said.

“But we’re not there yet. And I think that’s something I have the responsibility as a filmmaker to listen to. I care about people seeing the film, and I care about how it makes people feel.”

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