Greta Gerwig: Focusing on Female Stories

Greta Gerwig is one of the biggest female directors today. She is known for her feminist works like Lady Bird (2017), Little Women (2019), and Barbie (2023), but has succeeded in much more throughout her life and career. 

Early Life

Greta Gerwig was born on August 4, 1983, and she grew up in Sacramento, California. As a child, she studied ballet until she grew too tall for the style, then went on to study other forms of dance like jazz, modern, tap, and hip-hop. Gerwig also participated in competitive fencing, for which she at one point ranked 3rd in the state of California. She attended an all-girls catholic school and was involved in theater during high school. 

After high school, Gerwig attended Barnard College at Columbia University where she studied English and philosophy. During college, Gerwig roomed with now famous actor-comedian Kate McKinnon, and the two future successes performed in an improv group together. Continuing her theater involvement throughout college, Gerwig wrote and acted in plays while she was at Barnard. 

Professional Career

After graduating from Barnard in 2006, Gerwig decided to focus on her acting career after she was rejected from various MFA programs in playwriting. Though this career shift occurred after college, Greta Gerwig booked her debut film role while still in college in Joe Swanberg’s 2006 film LOL. This role signals her jump into the “mumblecore” subgenre of film that constitutes micro-budget films with naturalistic settings, shaky camera, and improvised dialogue. Gerwig scored bigger roles in Baghead (2008) and Yeast (2008). Furthering her accomplishments, she starred in and co-wrote Hannah Takes the Stairs (2007) and co-directed with Joe Swanberg Nights and Weekends (2008). In 2011, Gerwig co-starred in the remake of Arthur and had a role in No Strings Attached. The next level of her career is set off when Noah Baumbach casts her in Greenberg (2010) playing opposite Ben Stiller. This also signals the first of her collaborations with Baumbach, whom she has been working closely with to this day. Gerwig and Baumbach have been married since 2023 and have two children together.

Greta Gerwig is more than just an actor. She is also a screenwriter and a director. She was nominated for the Best Actress Golden Globe award for her role in Frances Ha (2012), a film which she co-wrote with Noah Baumbach. In the film, Gerwig stars as a struggling dancer in NYC and received widespread acclaim for her performance. 

Though the collaborations saw success, Gerwig was driven away from working with Baumbach after Mistress America released in 2015 and felt like her contributions were being undervalued. Gerwig remained busy with acting in various roles throughout the 2010s, but now focuses more on writing and directing, specifically for women-focused films. 

Directing 

Greta Gerwig’s solo directorial debut, Lady Bird (2017) was a massive breakthrough. The film took many years for Gerwig to write, showcasing a coming-of-age story of a girl trying to find her place in the world based in Gerwig’s home turf of Sacramento. Lady Bird explores themes of mother-daughter relationships, which drew many audiences to connect with the film. Though there are many connections to be drawn between Gerwig’s life and Ladybird’s life, Gerwig has said they are very much different people. Lady Bird received Academy Award nominations for Best Director, Best Picture, and Best Original Screenplay. It won the Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture (Musical or Comedy), and broke the record for the most “fresh” reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, surpassing the previous record-holder of Toy Story 2. 

Gerwig’s next big achievement is her adaptation of Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women. The novel was published in 1868 and there have been many film adaptations of it since, like Gillian Armstrong’s 1994 film and Masterpiece’s 2017 miniseries adaptation, but Gerwig’s 2019 feature film adaptation broke through with great reviews from critics. Gerwig’s Little Women features an all-star cast of Saoirse Ronan, Timothee Chalamet (both of whom starred in Lady Bird), Emma Watson, Florence Pugh, Meryl Streep, Laura Dern, and more. The film earned praise for staying true to the novel and portraying the complicated family dynamics while employing an interesting form of chronological reshuffling to tell the narrative. It succeeded in the critical acclaim realm of the industry as it earned Academy Award nominations for Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Original Score, while it won the Oscar for Best Costume Design. 

Most recently, Gerwig’s 2023 feature film Barbie became the highest grossing movie of the year. It set a new earning record among women-directed films, grossing $356 million globally in the opening weekend even though it released the same day as Christopher Nolan’s highly-anticipated Oppenheimer. Gerwig co-wrote Barbie with her husband Noah Baumbach, and the film stars Margot Robbie and Barbie and Ryan Gosling as Ken. The film is not only an adaptation of a children’s toy, but also a commentary on the patriarchy in contemporary life. At the Golden Globes, it won the Cinematic Box Office Achievement award and the award for Best Original Song due to Billie Eilish’s “What Was I Made For?” Gerwig was notably not nominated for Best Director at the Oscars, causing controversy in the entertainment world, but Time Magazine named her one of the 2024 Women of the Year due to her contributions to female empowerment through her work. 

Stylistic Themes 

As a director, Gerwig has a particular approach to filmmaking. Her solo-directing projects have certain themes in common like character-driven stories and realistic and overlapping dialogue (this is especially apparent in Little Women where the March family frequently speaks over one another). Gerwig tends to use monologues that show important themes for each film and are often discussed in pop culture. An example of this is America Ferrera’s monologue in Barbie about the struggles of being a woman in today’s society.

Gerwig’s films also feature coming-of-age themes and authentic costumes and sets. Gerwig is also known for having her casts bond before and during filming. The Barbie cast had girls night sleepovers and the Little Women cast had two weeks to familiarize themselves with each other and rehearse, which is considered a luxury in this industry. When directing, Gerwig takes time to listen to dialogue and look away from the monitor, really focusing on how the scene sounds. She tests edits with the audience to see where additional improvements can be made. Most of all, Gerwig tells female stories. Like she sought to do in her solo projects, Gerwig focuses on telling female stories and highlights feminist themes throughout her films. 

Upcoming Project

If you want to see more of her work, Greta Gerwig is currently working on an adaptation of the “Chronicles of Narnia” series by C.S. Lewis. This is currently a two-movie deal with Netflix. The first film, which will adapt the first book in the series, is set to be released on Thanksgiving Day of 2026. 

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