Eva Longoria and Gabrielle Union speak about the importance of normalising babies on red carpet

British filmmaker Greta Bellamacina was turned away from Cannes Film Festival 2019 red carpet for bringing her newborn

Gabrielle Union and Eva Longoria (Getty Images)

Actors Gabrielle Union and Eva Longoria have spoken in support of women who want to take their babies on the red carpet and on film sets.

In an interview with Harper’s Bazaar, the actors spoke of the importance of improving the film industry so that it is acceptable to take children to work, if necessary, even if that means bringing them to star-studded film events.

Their comments come weeks after British filmmaker Greta Bellamacina was turned away from the Cannes Film Festival 2019 red carpet for the screening of her film Hurt by Paradise because she took her child.

“I had already left Cannes before I heard the story and I was blown away,” Longoria told the publication in reaction to the news.

“A woman brought her four-month-old to a screening? Of course she did. He’s four months! He needs to feed.” At that age, she added, “Santi was not ever not with me.”

Longoria, 44, gave birth to son Santiago "Santi" Enrique with husband José Baston in June 2018. Union, 46, and husband Dwyane Wade welcomed a baby girl, Kaavia James, via surrogate in November 2018.

The magazine reports that the actors are now part of an “unofficial society” of film industry mothers “who are rewriting the rules of working parenthood” on the red carpet, in writers’ rooms and onset for the projects they produce.

Speaking about motherhood in Hollywood, Union credited fellow actor Jessica Alba, with whom she executive produces LA’s Finest, for championing the support of women and their children on the set of television productions.

“When Jessica was negotiating she had just given birth and was just very clear about what she needed and that she understood her value, and it paved the way for all of us to have access to our kids,” the Bring It On actor said.

The star continued, revealing that Alba ensured her trailer was equipped for her child after she returned to work following maternity leave.

“No-one’s had to make that crazy, crazy sacrifice of going back to work and just, like, leaving your kid,” she added. “Jess was like, f*ck that. I’m going to create the Hollywood that I’ve dreamed of and that I need.”

Longoria continued, stating that while she does understand that she comes from a place of privilege (“I have my family. I have resources and help. I have a supportive husband,” the Dora the Explorer star said), she noted that it is uncommon for a woman in Hollywood to direct and produce, “much less so a woman with a baby”.

“So I do think there’s some course correcting I can do by normalising it,” she added.

In May, Mrs Bellamacina said she was informed that she had been barred from entering the festival because her pram could not go through the main entrance and that if she wanted to take her son to the event she would have to pay €300 (£260) for his accreditation.

After agreeing to pay the fee, organisers told her that it would take 48 hours for them to process the paperwork and that she was still unable to enter the festival.

“I’m outraged at the absurdity of this backwards attitude,” Mrs Bellamacina said in a statement published in the Guardian. “As if female filmmakers needed further obstacles to equality in our industry.”

Cannes officials later released a statement explaining that the decision to refuse entry to the filmmaker had been made in error, which the festival was working to correct.

A spokesperson said the Festival welcomes mothers "who come to Cannes with their young children" and that is has provisions in place to allow children to attend.

“Unfortunately Mrs Bellamacina was not aware of these new provisions, and following poor communication from a security officer and a registration host, she was denied access which should have been granted to her. The Festival deplores it and has been working to correct it since then.”

In January, a study found that the representation of female directors in the movie industry is getting worse.

Women made up eight per cent of directors working on the 250 top domestic grossing films of 2018, according to Martha M Lauzen, PhD, and her study The Celluloid Ceiling.

That is three percentage points less than in 2017, when women accounted for 11 per cent of directors working on the top 250 films.