Actresses Karen Pittman, Natasha Rothwell, Olivia Munn and Uzo Aduba gathered for an actress roundtable at TheWrap’s Power Women Summit 2025, presented by STARZ #TakeTheLead for a discussion about the importance of establishing kindness on a set, women backing women and the power of saying “no.”
While Munn acknowledged that Hollywood has made strides in producing more women-led projects and writing “deeper” female characters, the actress emphasized, “The one part that is stagnant is the negotiating table.” She opened up about the weeks of negotiations that typically take place before filming even begins, during which time actresses and female creatives are often told, “We should just be happy with whatever we get.”
Pittman argued that one way to effectively combat that is having the courage to say “no.” “I often say no to things,” the “The Morning Show” and “And Just Like That” actress said, while noting how “hard” that can be. “I can’t be kind on set if I’m not getting paid well. I just can’t.”
When Munn asked if Pittman still found herself in that position even in the wake of the success of “The Morning Show,” the actress replied, “Girl, I was fighting last week.” She admitted that being forced to advocate for herself “feels s—tty,” but said the process of “building calluses” is important not only for her future success but for other women in the industry as well.
“I know that I’m fighting today for what I’m gonna make,” Pittman explained. “If I don’t fight on ‘The Morning Show’ or on ‘Forever’ or ‘And Just Like That,’ the next actress who comes in will have to fight even harder.”
“The word that Karen used that I think is worth leaning into is the power of ‘no.’ It’s not just a complete sentence, but it’s a grounding and an understanding and a communication of what you’re worth,” Aduba added. “It’s easy to equate negativity to the word ‘no’ and positivity to the word ‘yes.’ The real truth of the matter is ‘no’ not only is a boundary-setting piece of language, but actually a word of love for yourself, and ‘yes’ can be a tool of fear.”
Speaking to the mainstage attendees at the Maybourne Beverly Hills in Los Angeles, the “Residence” star further emphasized the “power” of knowing one’s worth.
“Society has told us not to love ourselves enough, not to lean into our power, to lean into scarcity and fear,” Aduba observed. Building off that, Pittman revealed, “Sometimes I say, ‘No, thank you.’ Sometimes I just say, ‘No.’ That’s a full f—king sentence in my book.”
Rothwell took a moment to acknowledge the women who might not be in the financial position to actually turn down opportunities they otherwise would. “There’s a lot of s—t that I had to eat when I wanted to say ‘no,’ but I had to pay for my rent,” the “White Lotus” star said. “I do think that now that I’m in a position to say ‘no,’ it’s imperative that I do it.”
Echoing her fellow panelists’ sentiments, Munn called on women to show more support for each other throughout Hollywood — even in the instances when one is being pitted against the other for the same role. “It’s [important] to be able to have real, transparent conversations with each other and know that there is enough for us to eat at the table,” the “Your Friends & Neighbors” star said.
The conversation of showing up the women around them led Pittman to reflect on times earlier in her career when, while a mother of two, work and money flow was not as reliable as it is today.
“I was on supplemental nutrition assistance in New York City when we were auditioning – she wasn’t, I was,” the actress said, indicating to Aduba, an old friend and colleague. “I had two kids, and I decided to tell people about it, that I was on SNAP. I thought it was important because I think that I felt like women especially were particularly vulnerable to taking on a lot.” Pittman detailed that “weeks would go by” without eating a full meal or knowing how “I was going to take care of my children.”
"The Morning Show" star @thekarenpittman gets deeply personal about publicly sharing that she was on SNAP as a mother of two early in her career.
— TheWrap (@TheWrap) December 2, 2025
This moving moment was just one part of TheWrap's Actress Roundtable at #PowerWomenSumit2025, presented by @STARZ #TakeTheLead.
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“It filled me with such shame and anxiety and worry. I mean, I had no peace at night,” she continued. “I just thought if I could help somebody, I’ll talk about this. At some point I thought me being vulnerable is likely going to put a target on me somewhere … But I really thought if I could help one person by saying, ‘Go to a food pantry, you don’t have to sit at home, there are people out here who will help you,’ I knew I wanted to speak up about it.”
This collective power and integrity is something Rothwell said she tries to embody on set, as well. “If there’s someone that is a person of color on set that’s younger than me, who said yes to [the project] because they wanted to but they also have issues and concerns that they are afraid to raise, I avail myself and I say to them, ‘Do you want to do that, baby?’” the “White Lotus” star explained.
“There’s a difference between [being] kind and nice, and I’ve been on really ‘nice’ sets and been deeply unhappy because there’s this kabuki theater of, like, ‘We’re performance art human-ing,’ versus just, ‘No. How actually are you?’” Rothwell added. “It’s important to recognize what kindness looks like.”
“Never take a person’s integrity,” Aduba urged, quoting the late Carnegie Mellon professor Randy Pausch. “It means nothing to you and everything to them.”
TheWrap’s Power Women Summit presented by STARZ #TakeTheLead is the essential gathering of the most influential women across entertainment and media. The event aims to inspire and empower women across the landscape of their professional careers and personal lives. PWS provides one day of keynotes, panels, workshops and networking. For more information visit: thewrap.com/pws. For all Power Women Summit 2025 coverage, click here.
