On The Basis Of Sex star Felicity Jones: ‘Ruth Bader Ginsburg has changed me’

Felicity Jones has revealed that playing US Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg in her new film, On The Basis Of Sex, had changed her “in quite a fundamental way.”

The 35-year-old actress stars alongside Armie Hammer as husband, Marty Ginsburg, in a story inspired by the American-Jewish icon’s younger days as a struggling attorney and new mother, and her fight against adversity in a male-dominated career.

Speaking ahead of the film’s opening next Friday, Jones said she was impressed by Bader Ginsburg’s “ability not to get knocked down”, as well as her “tenacity”.

She added: “Even now, there’s these huge conspiracy theories that she’s not even alive. I was reading about all this utter nonsense that she has to continuously fight against and was impressed by her tenacity to just keep going and not let the negativity get her down.

“We have so few leaders at the moment that we can look up to, who have stuck by their beliefs, who give us some kind of principled guidance and I feel she is someone who has done that throughout her life.

“The beliefs she started out with, she has stuck by those. I think she has changed me in quite a fundamental way.”

She also revealed feeling nervous during her first meeting with Bader Ginsburg, alongside her 32-year-old co-star, Hammer, but was swiftly put at ease by her warm welcome.

“As we waited outside her office at the Supreme Court, we were trying to think of things we could say to impress her,” smiles Jones.

“We walked in rather nervously, but then Ruth just looked up at Armie Hammer and was completely entranced by him. It was lovely to see that she shares a love for Armie, like so many of us!

Read the full interview with Jones in next week’s Jewish News.