Male actors turned down The Suffragette because the parts were too small, screenwriter claims

She commended Brendan Gleeson and Ben Whishaw for taking the supporting roles on

Perfectly showing why The Suffragette is still very relevant in 2015, the film’s screenwriter Abi Morgan has claimed that “many” male actors turned down the chance to star because there weren’t enough juicy male roles in it.

"When we came to cast this film it was very difficult, because we kept getting calls from agents saying the male parts weren't big enough," Morgan said at the BFI London Film Festival.

"So it's a huge tribute to Brendan Gleeson, Ben Whishaw, Samuel West and Finbar Lynch that they took on these parts. One of the things that I really wanted to try and do was, although they are smaller and supporting roles, they are complex.”

Meryl Streep, Carey Mulligan, Helena Bonham Carter and Anne-Marie Duff take the film’s lead roles, with Morgan defending the film against assertions that there aren’t any sympathetic male characters.

"I think one of the things that's really interesting is they are all going on their journey," she told the audience.

"Certainly for Ben, he's a man out of his time; for Brendan, he's a man trying to uphold the law, who then starts to question the law; for Samuel unfortunately there's very little enlightenment.

"But I do think it's very clear that he's a man who controls the world through his wife, and her wealth."

The Suffragette is in UK cinemas now, with a US release scheduled for 23 October.

(via Digital Spy)