Yahoo News Carrie Coon Says She Had to Wear 'Silicone Hip Pads' to Fill Out '60s Costume in Boston Strangler
Noam Galai/Getty Images for 20th Century Studios Carrie Coon
Carrie Coon is sharing her style secrets from her new '60s-set film Boston Strangler.
At 20th Century Studios' screening in New York City on Tuesday, the 42-year-old actress spoke exclusively with PEOPLE about her costume for the upcoming flick based on the true-crime retelling of the infamous Boston Strangler murders in the 1960s.
"Arjun [Bhasin], our costume designer, is really brilliant. But what was hilarious is that the 1950s and '60s silhouette isn't great for me, because I don't really have a waist or hips," she told PEOPLE on the carpet at the Museum of Modern Art.
Coon continued, "And so they had to give me silicone hip pads to fill out the skirts in the right places and keep them from spinning around."
"And when I took them off it made me sad," she admitted. "I mean, you don't really notice them after a while — you just notice them when they're gone and you look like a tree!"
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Claire Folger/20th Century Studios Carrie Coon and Keira Knightley in Boston Strangler (2023)
Coon, who wore a classic beige gown and neutral cream blazer to the screening event on Tuesday, plays reporter Jean Cole alongside Keira Knightley's Loretta McLaughlin, the latter of whom also investigates the string of murders for the newspaper.
Together, they "find themselves stymied by the rampant sexism of the era" as they conduct their reporting and attempt to uncover the murderer's identity, an official synopsis for the film reads.
Last month, PEOPLE exclusively premiered the movie's trailer, which showed Coon and Knightley's characters meeting opposition from their editor and the Boston police throughout their investigation.
When asked if she has experienced sexism in her own career, Coon told PEOPLE Tuesday, "Certainly. All of this is sexism in a way. The way I'm expected to show up to these events is sexism, in a way."
"I have had the great benefit of working with some extraordinary men because most of the people I've worked with have been men, but men that have really strong female partners that are interested in me as a collaborator," she continued, noting that she has been "fortunate."
"But those stories are not lost on me, and they're everywhere," Coon added to PEOPLE. "I don't know any woman who hasn't walked into just about every room and either been dismissed or underestimated. So it's part of my everyday life."
Other notable films the Ohio-born star has been featured in include Gone Girl and 2017's The Post. After Coon had her first baby in 2018, the mother of two joked about the timeline for when she and her husband conceived their son: when they were on set to film The Post.
"It's our Spielberg baby," she previously quipped to Rolling Stone.
On the television side, Coon has played roles in Fargo, The Leftovers, The Sinner and, more recently, HBO's The Gilded Age, which also features Coon rocking a more distinct silhouette for her character Bertha Russell — this time in the late 1800s, displaying "new money" fashion.
Boston Strangler is streaming Friday on Hulu.
