Actress Juno Temple discussed the importance of confidence and self-acceptance as a means of promoting feminine power with members of Le Femme on Monday, while talking about her experience as a woman in the media.

In films including Atonement, Maleficent and The Dark Knight Rises, Temple said she chooses to play strong female characters with complexities that interest her, but also have aspects that she identifies with.

 “I think it’s so important to play characters that are going through things that you’ve been through, your friends have told you about those experiences,” Temple said. “Maybe someone somewhere will see that and be like ‘Wow, I’m going through that too.’ ”

 She said her favorite characters are those who are comfortable in their personality and she can learn from.

“A lot of women can just get cast as accessories to men, so I was interested to hear how she dealt with that, because she does have a lot of interesting roles,” La Femme leader Sohni Kaur ’17 said.

Temple said that she battled with body image at a young age, but found it liberating to deal with and resolve them on camera. She encouraged students work toward achieving what motivates them, rather than the conception of perfection that society places on them.

“You can have the most perfect body in the world but still really hate being in your own skin,” Temple said. “I’m a strong believer that you should do one thing every day that makes you happy.”

Despite the inherent judgment in the industry, Temple credited her confidence to her experiences as an actress working with other inspirational actresses and female directors, and urged students to find a similar confidence in themselves.

 “As a woman you do get told you’re not this enough, you’re not that enough, you’re too short, you’re too blonde,” Temple said. “It can be incredibly unimaginative, but then there are also amazing women in this industry that so believe in female power and so encourage you to be honest as a woman.”