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Emma Thompson is weighing in on the impact Amber Heard and Johnny Depp‘s trial verdict could have on the #MeToo movement.
While speaking to BBC’s Woman’s Hour on BBC Radio 4, released on Thursday, the Cruella star discussed her opinion on the future of the #MeToo era (a movement to help survivors of sexual violence and abuse share their stories) after a seven-person jury found both Depp, 59, and Heard, 36, liable for defamation but sided mainly with the actor last week.
“One of the great issues to do with that case is fame and how people who are famous are treated differently and viewed differently,” Thompson, 63, explained. “The #MeToo movement is not going to be derailed by that, but in order for it not to be derailed, we just have to keep on talking. We have to keep on talking and refuse to allow it to be derailed by a case [with] two very, very, very famous people.”
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“A case where the two protagonists are that famous is not representative,” she continued. “And it’s just very important to remember that this movement—which is about human kindness and is just so simple, really, and has been made so complicated—cannot and will not be derailed by one case.”
The British actress has shown her support for the movement in the past. In 2019, PEOPLE confirmed that Thompson dropped out of Skydance Animation’s upcoming animated film Luck after the company hired former Pixar head John Lasseter, who faced accusations of sexual misconduct.
Lasseter, 65, was brought on as the head of Skydance Animation after exiting Pixar and Disney Animation due to the allegations against him.
Lasseter’s hire at Skydance Animation was announced in January by CEO David Ellison.
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“John is a singular creative and executive talent whose impact on the animation industry cannot be overstated,” Ellison said in a statement, according to The Hollywood Reporter. “He was responsible for leading animation into the digital age, while telling incomparable stories that continue to inspire and entertain audiences around the globe.”
A rep for the company did not respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment at the time.
His hire came just over a year after Lasseter announced his leave of absence to Pixar staff in a memo that apologized for inappropriate behavior.
“I especially want to apologize to anyone who has ever been on the receiving end of an unwanted hug or any other gesture they felt crossed the line in any way, shape, or form,” he wrote in the memo obtained by PEOPLE at the time.
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Following her exit from the project, Thompson sent a letter to Skydance’s management, which was published in The Los Angeles Times, writing, “It feels very odd to me that you and your company would consider hiring someone with Mr. Lasseter’s pattern of misconduct given the present climate in which people with the kind of power that you have can reasonably be expected to step up to the plate.”
“I am well aware that centuries of entitlement to women’s bodies whether they like it or not is not going to change overnight. Or in a year,” she concluded. “But I am also aware that if people who have spoken out – like me – do not take this sort of a stand then things are very unlikely to change at anything like the pace required to protect my daughter’s generation.”
On June 1, Depp was awarded $15 million (reduced to $10.35 million by the judge) after winning all three defamation claims over Heard’s 2018 op-ed on her domestic abuse allegations against him. Meanwhile, Heard was awarded $2 million after winning one of the three defamation claims in her countersuit.
