'You're hired if you don't ask questions'

Susan Sarandon. Photo: Collected
Susan Sarandon. Photo: Collected

Oscar winner Susan Sarandon took a dig at Hollywood and said that not asking questions leads to getting hired in the industry.

Sarandon spoke at a screening of her documentary "Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story" here, reports hollywoodreporter.com.

"It's certainly not a requirement to be smart in my business... Mediocrity is rewarded time and time again. A lot of the time you're hired because you don't ask questions. It takes more time to ask questions, it takes more time to fight for something with integrity," she said.

Sarandon, who recently won acclaim on the small screen for her portrayal of Hollywood icon Bette Davis, added that there's "no room" for asking questions or exploration on film, television or the stage.

"The last play I did on Broadway ('Exit the King with Geoffrey Rush'), we spent so much time doing press, which should've been done rehearsing," she said.

"I would have liked to have been rehearsing anyway."

Sarandon was keen to highlight the "tricky" nature of films and their relationship with sex.

"It's very complicated, in my business especially, because it's all about your sexual currency. Whether you actually deliver to anyone in charge to get a job that way -- people hire women they want to be with and men they want to be. And anyone that falls in between is a character actor," she quipped.

Sarandon said women should have the choice about how she uses what she has at her disposal.

"Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story", which Sarandon has executive produced, tells the story of the title actor's life but focuses on her talents as an inventor -- most notably, for developing a radio guidance system during World War II that became the basis of Bluetooth and Wi-Fi technology.