Richard Armitage says the "man-free zone" of Ocean's Eight is becoming less unusual in film and TV

The film's villain says Sandra Bullock was "the driving force" behind the Ocean's revival.

© Donna Ward/Getty Images
By Morgan Jeffery
7 June 2018

Ocean's Eight is fronted by an all-female lead cast and while that might still feel like a rarity, one of the film's male cast members is insisting he's seeing more positive gender balance in the film and TV industry.

Richard Armitage, who plays Claude Becker, the conniving ex-boyfriend of Debbie Ocean (Sandra Bullock), told Digital Spy that things have become "much more balanced" in terms of cast and crew, though he acknowledged that more work still needs to be done.

"It's a very man-free zone, isn't it?" he said of Ocean's Eight. "I don't know whether it's unusual, but I've worked so many times with female directors, female producers... and although the film was directed by Gary Ross, Sandy Bullock was executive producer and Olivia Milch was the screenwriter [with Ross]...

"There's nothing unusual about that to me. It felt very normal."

Calling Bullock the "driving force" behind the franchise revival, Armitage applauded Ocean's Eight for portraying a team of women who work together rather than against each other.

"They collaborate with each other, enjoy each other, have fun with each other," he said.

"At no point are they pitted against each other, which I think is really great and unusual, because often writers like to see women fighting with each other and bringing each other down.

"For something which is about crime, it's got a very upbeat feel to it."

Bullock stars opposite Cate Blanchett, Anne Hathaway, Mindy Kaling, Sarah Paulson, Awkwafina, Rihanna, and Helena Bonham Carter, with the team attempting to pull off the heist of the century at New York City's star-studded annual Met Gala.

Ocean's Eight arrives in UK cinemas on June 22, after opening in the US on June 8.