15 Feb Hot List: Badass women bosses on the big and small screen
Badass boss: Miranda Priestly
Movie: The Devil Wears Prada Meryl Streep’s Miranda Priestly, the demanding editor in chief of high-fashion magazine Runway, has a bark as bad as her bite.
Badass boss: Katharine Parker
Movie: Working Girl
Katharine Parker, played by Sigourney Weaver, is a high-powered executive in mergers and acquisitions who will do anything to get ahead. Though Parker gets her comeuppance, her assistant, Tess McGill (Melanie Griffith), wins out by borrowing from her boss’s take-no-prisoners playbook.
Badass boss: Kathryn Janeway
Movie: Star Trek: Nemesis
As the commanding officer of the Starship Voyager, Admiral Kathryn Janeway (portrayed by Kate Mulgrew) navigates uncharted space to bring her crew home safely.
Badass boss: Debbie Ocean
Movie: Ocean’s 8
Sandra Bullock’s character, Debbie Ocean, shows that women can take the helm at criminal organizations, too, as she leads an all-female crew in executing a complex heist at the Met Gala.
Badass boss: Cookie Lyon
TV series: Empire
Taraji P. Henson’s Cookie Lyon cofounded Empire Entertainment with husband Lucious, and not only does she refuse to take a back seat to him, but her business acumen helps catapult the start-up into a family dynasty.
Badass boss: Olivia Pope
TV series: Scandal
When the president is in trouble, there’s only one person to call: Kerry Washington’s Olivia Pope. A crisis manager whose firm fixes political predicaments, Pope calls her employees “gladiators” and motivates them to get out of their comfort zone and do the seemingly impossible.
Badass boss: Claire Underwood
TV series: House of Cards
Climbing the ranks from political wife to the first woman president of the United States, Robin Wright’s Claire Underwood is unfazed by the ruthlessness of politics and goes toe to toe with any formidable opponent. EW