It’s not our fault there aren’t many seats at the table for women

LILY JAMES, MYHA'LA AND FILMMAKER RACHEL LEE GOLDENBERG DISCUSS THEIR MOVIE SWIPED, PATRIARCHY AND THE MALE-CENTRIC WORLD OF TECH. BY YOLANTHE FAWEHINMI

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LILY James is taking on her most challenging role yet - real-life Bumble founder Whitney Wolfe Herd in new biopic Swiped.

The film follows the dating app entrepreneur's journey in the male-dominated tech industry, and her eventual breakthrough as she becomes the youngest self-made female billionaire. Lily has a lot of respect for how Whitney navigated that period of her life.

“It's not our fault the patriarchy exists, and there aren’t many seats at the table for women. So, you can understand that if you're driven, ambitious, and want to succeed, it becomes more cutthroat, and there’s more competition among other women. You also find that women participate in misogyny,’ says 36-year-old Lily, who was nominated for an Emmy and Golden Globe for her portrayal of Pamela Anderson in the biographical series Pam & Tommy.

“So much around us needs to change. I’m never going to blame the women, but I do think it’s really important to support other women and bring them along, sharing in their success. I guess we can challenge that by making changes and forcing it not to be the case. But historically, that’s been hard.”

Swiped follows recent university graduate Whitney from her early days trying to break into the tech industry, becoming one of the co-founders of dating app Tinder.

But when her relationship with former boyfriend and co-founder, Justin Mateen, played by Jackson White breaks down, she sues the dating app firm for sexual discrimination and harassment and is forced to leave.