Why you will never hear Jameela Jamil say 'men are trash'.

In the decade since she burst onto the global scene in The Good Place, Jameela Jamil has made quick work of establishing one hell of a powerhouse platform.

Throughout her career, the British actress, podcaster, author, presenter and activist has leveraged her platform to advocate for body neutrality, mental health awareness and inclusivity.

And now, she has a new podcast coming out called Wrong Turns, a comedy show exploring when people make their biggest mistakes.

In a wide-ranging chat with Kate Langbroek for Mamamia's No Filter podcast, Jamil opened up about her motivation to start such a project. "I'm just f*cking sick of this inspiration porn… everything has to have some sort of f*cking silver lining. I decided to make a podcast about all the dumbest sh*t we ever did that there was no great pearl of wisdom from," she said.

"The bad decisions and mishaps that are anti-inspiration and pro-commiseration."

Listen to Jameela Jamil on No Filter. Story continues below.

It's a new venture for Jamil, who has spent her rise in Hollywood lending a voice to the issues that matter to her.

For instance, building her 'I Weigh' initiative, which shone a light on diet culture and unrealistic beauty norms perpetuated by celebrities and influencers.

"I sleep better at night knowing that I've taken the path I have because my inner 12-year-old follows me everywhere, and she's such a judgemental little bitch that I just wouldn't be able to get anything past her," she said.

"Otherwise, she'll give me the stink eye, and I can't bear it. Everything I do is for her."

Watch Naomi Watts on No Filter. Post continues after video.

As the actress approaches 40 (she just turned 39 in February), she is taking with her some lessons learnt.

"Give yourself permission to f*ck up and say the wrong thing and rub people up the wrong way," she said.

"The biggest lie that women are told is that they are expected to or can ever be everyone's cup of tea. It's not possible. We are human beings who have different tastes. It's so funny that I grew up my whole life not liking almost anyone, but hoping everyone would like me. How ridiculous is that!"

Getting older has allowed Jamil to discover a deeper sense of who she is. "I've set myself free and learnt self-acceptance, and I'm sure part of that is [due to] the fact that I'm 40 soon," she said.

"The greatest gift of getting older is realising that, 'Oh, it's all a scam.' Everything's a scam. Every beauty standard you were ever given was a scam."

"Women are told the most important thing about our existence on this earth is just to be palatable in every way. Don't take up too much space, just smile, be pretty, look skinny, make everyone else's lives more comfortable, and then die, but don't look old when you do," she said.

"I love being older. I love every year I get further away from my f*cking twenties, so I can really actually enjoy all of this and see that 'Oh, what was I worried about all those years? Why was I trying to placate myself and mould myself and shape myself and drain myself for a few insecure men?'. Actually, the world is full of lots of men who don't care about any of this sh*t."

In the chat with Langbroek, the topic of toxic masculinity came up throughout, and it's a term that Jamil thinks does a disservice to real masculinity.

"I know what masculinity is. I love masculinity. Not only do I have masculinity within myself, but my boyfriend is a very masculine man. Whatever I'm seeing in that other sh*t has got to have a new name," she reflected.

Jameela Jamil's musician boyfriend James Blake. Image: Getty.

Jamil believes that a shift in women's expectations has led to men having to work harder to get the attention of women.

"A lot of what I need from a relationship, I'm actually getting from my mates. Our standards have become very high because I don't need you," she said.

"I don't need my boyfriend. I make as much money as him. I can afford my house on my own. I have a great circle of friends. He's in my life because I want him, not because I need him."

Concerning the 'male loneliness epidemic' that the activist believes is a large contributor to the rise in right-wing ideologies and the radicalisation of boys and men toward misogynistic rhetoric online, Jamil has a few suggestions for change.

"They're not taught how to talk to each other. The amount of times I'll know so much more about my male friends than my male friends know about each other.

"How many times have you had your dad come home from seeing another dad who's going through a divorce and asked him how he's doing. He was like, 'Oh, it never came up.' They don't talk to each other."

Jamil believes that it's this lack of connection and the ability to be vulnerable with each other that leads to dwindling mental health and loneliness in men.

"They're not taught to build out their emotional skill sets, and it's hurting them because look at how fast they're killing themselves," she said.

Image: Supplied.

"There's a reason more men kill themselves than women, and it's because women have each other. Men don't have each other, and they don't really have us," she continued.

But what is the solution? According to Jameel, part of the responsibility to help these men is in the hands of women.

"Let us step up and use the thing that we're f*cking brilliant at, which is showing people how to communicate with each other. Women are so intelligent and powerful."

The Superpets star admits she knows this is not an opinion that some feminists will be able to stomach.

"That's my opinion. And some people really don't like that," she said.

"I have been one of those women, those loud, angry feminist women who just think, 'Well, fuck off. Why should we have to do this work for you? Figure it out!' They literally can't and, instead of figuring it out, they're just stripping our rights and taking us back to the 1920s. That's what's happening."

Jameela acknowledges that in her earlier years of activism, she would use her words more recklessly in the ways she cast judgments on men.

"I rose to prominence as someone who was a brash, straight-talker, very 'f*ck you, you can f*ck off, you're an incel and you're a twat'. I was very finger-pointy, very rude, very judgemental, very alienating," she recalled.

In response, the podcaster said she was rewarded, earning front covers of Vogue, being called 'feminist hero' by Harper's Bazaar and being named one of the most influential women by Time Magazine.

But then something happened that changed her way of thinking: the pandemic.

"It was watching the way that everyone spoke to each other during COVID. Everyone split off into kind of two camps. They were so dehumanising and hideous to each other so fast," she said.

Image: Getty.

It was this online vitriol between different groups that led Jameela to question whether there was a better way.

"What we need to be doing is going: how do I learn best? Do I learn best when I'm being shamed, labelled, screamed at, or spoken down to? Or do I learn best when someone's being a little bit patient with me, but firm? They're giving me the facts, and giving me a bit of the benefit of the doubt, and giving me time to adjust. Obviously, we all learn better with the latter," she said.

"We can't be like 'Men are trash, men are trash, men are trash.' We cannot keep going with this sh*t. This misandrist sh*t that's going on that I've been against from the very start."

As documented in the Netflix series Adolescence, there is a clear disconnect between teenage boys and the girls and women they are increasingly being indoctrinated to hate.

"Why the f*ck would teenage boys side with us? Why would they think we're a welcoming space to go to?" she said.

Image: Netflix.

"[Imagine] I'm 15, and I'm being told I'm not sh*t and I'm trash, and that the most embarrassing thing a woman can be is attracted to men. These boys want to be safe. They don't feel safe with us. If I was a teenage boy, I wouldn't be like, 'Oh, I'm gonna go find a group of women to hang out with.' I'd be f*cking terrified."

The frequent name-dropping of far-right extremists like Andrew Tate when discussing men is also not useful, adds Jamil.

"I've paid no attention to him, to be perfectly honest. I don't really speak about him publicly," she notes.

"Rather than us spending all of our time and attention on trying to bring down and sh*t on the bad men in this world… start elevating the men who are really great.

"Look at how the world reacted to Benny Blanco talking about Selena Gomez and how wonderful and emotionally intelligent he was," the 39-year-old continues.

"Look at Pedro Pascal, look at Mark Ruffalo, look at Timothee Chalamet — none of these men are like these toxic assholes on TikTok. We need to just stop even mentioning their names and only bigging up and going nuts for good men, kind men, secure men."

Jamil is hopeful that things can get better but warns that nothing will change if women don't play their part.

"I have hope that we can turn this sh*t around, but if we don't do it now, we are going to run out of opportunity. The opportunity is slipping through our fingers," she said.

"Fascism is rising, conservatism is rising, and social media is extraordinary at dividing us. We have to bring men and women together as allies."

Feature image: Getty.