Felicity Jones strives to do justice to Ginsburg in film

The Ruth Bader Ginsburg film "On the Basis of Sex" was about to fall apart when Felicity Jones got her hands on the script. The origin story about the future Supreme Court justice written by Ginsburg's nephew Daniel Stiepleman had been in various stages of development since 2012, looking for the right star (Natalie Portman was originally attached), the right director (Mimi Leder could only do it after finishing the third season of the HBO show "The Leftovers") and the right time to finally hit go. But it was looking wobbly again and they needed an answer fast.

The British actress, fresh off the Star Wars film "Rogue One," had been looking for a project about a woman and her career and had recently become familiar with Justice Ginsburg, whose celebrity has only grown of late. And Ginsburg, who had seen Jones in her Oscar-nominated role in "The Theory of Everything," had already given her informal approval to cast Jones. ("I think the only thing she was nervous about was getting rid of that English accent," laughed Leder.)

Jones read it in a weekend, said yes, and, finally, the stars had aligned. The film was happening.

In this dec. 8, 2018 photo, actress Felicity Jones poses for a portrait on Dec 8, 2018 at the Four Seasons Hotel in Los Angeles to promote her film "On the Basis of Sex". (Photo by Rebecca CabageInvisionAP)

"I didn't take it on lightly" Jones said despite her quick answer. "It was really intimidating at first, like gosh how do I do justice to this person?"

Ginsburg didn't have advice for Jones when they met ("She said, 'I've seen your work and I know you can do it,'" Jones said.) But she did have one request for the filmmakers: That they would be absolutely precise in capturing the law. Can you blame her?

"On the Basis of Sex," in theaters nationwide on Christmas Day, caps off a big year for Ginsburg in cinema that started with the documentary "RBG" premiering at Sundance last January and going on to become a modest box-office phenomenon.

In this dec. 8, 2018 photo, actress Felicity Jones poses for a portrait on Dec 8, 2018 at the Four Seasons Hotel in Los Angeles to promote her film "On the Basis of Sex". (Photo by Rebecca CabageInvisionAP)

This film is complimentary to the documentary, and focuses in on two very specific parts of Ginsburg's early days in law long before she would go on to be confirmed as an associate justice in 1993: First as one of the few female students at Harvard Law School in the mid-1950s, and then as a professor at Rutgers in the 1960s, when she started getting involved with gender discrimination cases with the American Civil Liberties Union.

It not only shows Ginsburg's incredible work ethic and instances of the adversity she faced from both her professors and potential employers, but also her happy home life with her children and her supportive husband Martin (or Marty) Ginsburg, who died in 2010. He is played by Armie Hammer.

"It's very much about showing how someone becomes the icon that they are today. She didn't come out fully formed at 85. You see the struggle it takes," Jones said. "She was constantly put in situations where she had to battle on every front, with her faith, with her gender, where she was from."

In this dec. 8, 2018 photo, actress Felicity Jones poses for a portrait on Dec 8, 2018 at the Four Seasons Hotel in Los Angeles to promote her film "On the Basis of Sex". (Photo by Rebecca CabageInvisionAP)

It helped inform how Jones, 35, would craft Ginsburg's voice, which in those days, at least publicly, was more Mid-Atlantic than the heavier Brooklyn accent many are familiar with today.

"When she's frustrated her more Brooklyn vowel sounds come out because she can't help but say it in her more kind of natural voice," Jones said. "It's interesting to show just how her public-self had to become something that was quite separate from her private-self."

Although she's of a quite different generation than Ginsburg, Jones did relate in her own way to feeling like the only woman in the room, especially on film sets where most of the crew are male. ("I would love to ideally walk out on a set and see half men and half women in all of the roles behind the camera," Jones said.)

In this dec. 8, 2018 photo, actress Felicity Jones poses for a portrait on Dec 8, 2018 at the Four Seasons Hotel in Los Angeles to promote her film "On the Basis of Sex". (Photo by Rebecca CabageInvisionAP)

Leder, at 66, is of yet another generation, but also found commonalities with Ginsburg, as a trailblazer in her own industry. She was the first woman to be in the cinematography track at the American Film Institute, and like her contemporary Kathryn Bigelow, would go on to direct bigger budget action films like "Deep Impact" and "The Peacemaker" at a time when very few women were making those kinds of movies.

"I never compare myself to her accomplishments, but I connected to RBG in a very personal way," Leder said. "We're both mothers, both Jewish, both have (had) longstanding marriages and know what that takes. And both have broken the glass ceiling in different ways and paved the way for others for generations to come."

A master at creating tension, Leder brings urgency to staid courtroom scenes fitting of her action-film background.

Jones observed that it has elements of a sports film too with its arc of an outsider and underdog finding her voice and power.

"We wanted it to be fun and entertaining. We go to the cinema not only to think about the world in a different way but to have a nice two hours," Jones said. "I hope that people enjoy the humor of it and enjoy the experience of it and say actually, you know what, I might be able to change the world too."

Follow AP Film Writer Lindsey Bahr on Twitter: www.twitter.com/ldbahr

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — South African immigration authorities raided a United States refugee processing center in Johannesburg and seven Kenyans working there illegally were arrested and given deportation orders, South Africa's Home Affairs Ministry said Wednesday, as the U.S. called the action “unacceptable.”

Tuesday's raid occurred at a center that processes applications by white South Africans who have been given priority for refugee status in the U.S. by the Trump administration. It was bound to increase tensions between the countries, whose relations have cooled dramatically since President Donald Trump returned to office.

The Trump administration's claim that members of South Africa's Afrikaner white minority group are being persecuted by the Black-led government has been widely rejected, but it has been central to the deterioration of ties between the U.S. and Africa's most advanced economy.

The Home Affairs Ministry said the Kenyans were in the country on tourist visas which did not allow them to work, adding that U.S. officials' work with them at the refugee processing center “raises serious questions about intent and diplomatic protocol.”

It was not immediately clear whether the U.S. had known about the Kenyans’ status.

The ministry said no U.S. officials were arrested in the raid and that the site was not a diplomatic one. It said South Africa's Foreign Ministry has started “formal diplomatic engagements with both the United States and Kenya to resolve this matter.”

U.S. State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott said “interfering in our refugee operations is unacceptable,” adding that they were seeking “immediate clarification from the South African government and expect full cooperation and accountability.”

The U.S. Embassy in a statement last month said the U.S. government had contracted a Kenya-based company, RSC Africa, to process refugee applications by white South Africans. RSC Africa is operated by Church World Service, a U.S.-based nongovernmental organization that offers refugee assistance and works with the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program.

The Home Affairs Ministry said the Kenyans were working at the U.S. refugee processing site “despite the fact that earlier visa applications for Kenyan nationals to perform this work had been lawfully declined.” The seven Kenyans were given deportation orders and banned from entering South Africa for a five-year period.

Trump has singled out South Africa for criticism on a range of issues, claiming without evidence that Afrikaners are being killed and having their land seized and that South Africa is pursuing an anti-U.S. foreign policy through its diplomatic relations with Palestinian authorities and Iran.

The U.S. boycotted last month's Group of 20 world leaders summit in South Africa, and Trump said it will exclude South Africa from the group when it hosts the annual summit next year. Trump also issued an executive order in February that said the U.S. would stop aid and assistance to South Africa over what it called its “egregious actions.”

South Africa's government has said the U.S. claims over the persecution of Afrikaners are based on misinformation and that white South Africans don't meet the criteria for refugee status because there is no persecution, although it said it wouldn't stop anyone applying. Afrikaners are white South Africans descended from mainly Dutch and French colonial settlers who first came to the country in the 17th century.

The Trump administration announced in October it was dramatically cutting the annual quota for refugees allowed in the U.S. to 7,500 from a previous limit of 125,000 and white South Africans would be given most of the places. A first group of white South African refugees had already arrived in the U.S. under the new program for them in May. It's not clear how many have been relocated since then.

Imray reported from Cape Town, South Africa. Associated Press writer Matthew Lee in Washington contributed to this report.

AP Africa news: https://apnews.com/hub/africa

FILE - Refugees from South Africa arrive, Monday, May 12, 2025, at Dulles International Airport in Dulles, Va. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson, File)

FILE - Refugees from South Africa, arrive Monday, May 12, 2025, at Dulles International Airport in Dulles, Va. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson, File)