Thelma Dickinson, as in Thelma & Louise, is the best role Geena Davis ever read. She got the part, lucky stars be thanked, and when the film came out, 24 years ago this May, critics loved it, too. The idea was that Davis and Susan Sarandon would inspire a new era for women onscreen. But the forecasted flood of lady buddy movies did not materialize. In fact, Davis says, public reaction was more like the opposite, with folks—mostly male folks—near distress at the prospect of armed and rebellious women. (She tartly summarized the response: “The world is ruined now, because women have guns.”) The following year, Davis starred in A League of Their Own, and people predicted a crop of female sports movies. Again, not so much.

Davis began to discern a pattern—minor boom, bigger bust. In the summer of 2008, Mamma Mia and Sex and the City came out; three years later brought us Bridesmaids and The Help. Each time, the papers said that the conversation would change. But the industry is stubborn. “Even when there’s a movie like The Hunger Games, that’s wildly successful and stars a female character,” Davis said, “this shadow hangs over Hollywood, this idea that women will watch men but men won’t watch women.” Jennifer Lawrence herself may not have the translational momentum to assassinate gender bias.

Speaking in a glass conference room adjoining a green room, sleek in black, white, and silver hoops, Davis might have been a still from the Getty Images Lean In collection. It was an all-day events marathon, from the glass offices of Bloomberg LP to the nearby United Nations, but she smiled broadly. I wondered where she got all the stamina and cheer.