Amy Adams decries lack of opportunities for female characters to 'be smart'

The actress has spoken about what attracted her to the role of Louise Banks in acclaimed sci-fi Arrival

Oscar buzz has been settling around Amy Adams' phenomenal performance in sci-fi Arrival, which screened as part of this year's London Film Festival.

Partially because, finally, Adams has been offered a character as smart and complex as her phenomenal talents are capable of exploring in full; with Hollywood's greatest actresses so often left feeling redundant in underwritten, flat roles.

Indeed, Adams took the opportunity to point out that, though female characters in films can often be described as clever, they aren't actually given the opportunity to display that intelligence; with Denis Villeneuve's Arrival marking a refreshing change from the trend.

"Sometimes females are written that they are smart in the description but they don't have anything smart to say or do so the fact she gets to be smart and not just act smart is awesome," Adams stated at the press conference for the film (via The Belfast Telegraph).

Arrival sees Adams play expert linguist Louise Banks, recruited by an elite team to investigate the eerie spacecraft which have suddenly descended across the globe. It's Louise who becomes the key to communication with the beings and - with mankind poised on the edge of a global war - it is her who provides the one hope for her planet's survival.

Jeremy Renner, who stars across from Adams, added that; "I mainly did this movie because of my relationship with Amy and this is a great role for her. What is lacking in Hollywood is roles like that for actresses of this calibre. They play victims a lot of the times, women who are victimised in some way, but this was a fantastic script and shows a leading woman who is smart."

"She is a superhero, she saves the world and that is a fantastic thing. Women are badass, my mother and my sisters are what this character is, this emotional intelligence, this mother earth. She's compassionate and tolerant. What separates men from women is that compassion gene."

Arrival hits UK cinemas 11 November.