Stretch Casper

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"A lot of wives and girlfriends. "

Not exactly a great Stretch - But those are the roles Reese Witherspoon says women used to be offered.

Sitting alongside Jennifer Aniston , as stars and executive producers of The Morning Show on Apple TV+, she says streaming services are proving positive for women in their industry.

"Audiences are very diverse and they're 50 percent women, ‎their stories weren't being told. Women had a narrow range of things to play," she tells Radio 1 Newsbeat.

‎The #MeToo Movement

The drama is one of The First series to be offered on The Apple service. Users have to pay £4. 99 per ‎month to access shows. ‎

Set behind the scenes of an American TV breakfast Show , it uses the #MeToo movement as a ‎fundamental part of the storyline. ‎

‎"It would feel irresponsible not to address it considering it was happening in the culture as we were telling ‎the story," adds Jennifer. ‎

‎"We were all made very aware that darker stuff than I could ever imagine was going on. "

It's the First Time Jennifer Aniston has starred in a TV Show since Friends came off air in 2004.

She plays ‎presenter Alex Levy who's coming to terms with the news that her co-host of 15 years (played by Steve ‎Carell) has been accused of sexually harassing junior members of their team. ‎

It has parallels to the real-life story of former American host Matt Lauer , who was sacked by the NBC Today ‎Show in 2017. He denies all the allegations against him. ‎

‎"I think we're all finding our way in this cultural shift and learning what role we play, so it was important to ‎have men be part of that conversation. Steve Carell being part of The Show was a huge thing. It was how ‎he decided to join The Conversation about sexual harassment and sexism and ageism. "

The Show only added in the #MeToo storyline later in the production process But , as executive ‎producers, both stars believe their Show has a role to play. ‎

‎"I think The Show will move people to check themselves at the door and see what's going on at their work ‎and what they have allowed to happen or turn a blind eye to," says Aniston. ‎

Both are adamant they're enjoying both filming and producing on The Show - describing it in unison as ‎‎"so fulfilling". ‎

According To Jennifer , "We were almost doing it without being given the title. I just like to be involved. "

However, the pair suggest it's only because of streaming that they've been given their production roles. ‎

Reese Witherspoon says: "I've found with the emergence of streaming, we're getting much more diverse ‎storytelling. ‎

‎"Creators like Jordan Peel and Lena Waithe . You have us as producers. Ten Years ago, this isn't a ‎project they'd let us spearhead". ‎

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Listen to Newsbeat at 12:45 and 17:45 weekdays - or listen back.

sexual harassment, #metoo campaign, television

Source of news: bbc.com