Machismo and s**xual hara**ment in the cinema: the most humiliating auditions experienced by Hollywood actresses
After the emergence of the #MeToo movement due to the case of Harvey Weinstein, film stars were encouraged to tell traumatic stories that they lived in their early days in the cinema at the hands of powerful men in the industry
Many actresses who were harassed by powerful men in their early days have publicly spoken about the impossible thing it is to try to get a job without being a victim of workplace harassment and machismo in the film industry. After the public condemnation of producer Harvey Weinstein, who for years perpetrated all kinds of sexual crimes with absolute impunity and with the complicity of all of Hollywood, and the subsequent emergence of the #MeToo and Time's Up movements, there were many renowned stars, such as Meryl Streep, Susan Sarandon, Jennifer Lawrence or Megan Fox, who have been encouraged to tell of the terrible experiences they endured while trying to get a role in a movie.
Charlize Theron
Oscar winner Charlize Theron spoke openly about a time when a “famous movie director” touched her inappropriately after inviting her to audition at her home. Just arrived in Hollywood, the actress she accepted, but without knowing the nightmare that she was going to live. “I thought it was a little weird that the audition was on a Saturday night in Los Angeles, but I thought it was still normal. He was wearing Hugh Hefner pajamas. I walked in and he offered me a drink, and I thought the whole acting thing was very laid back. But shortly after, it became very clear what the situation was, and I was like, 'It's not going to happen. You've run into the wrong girl, buddy! '”The South African actress recalled in an interview. Theron said that she apologized to him before walking away from her, something that made her angry with herself. "I blame myself for not saying what I should have said and for not having done all those things that we want to believe we would do in situations like this."
Theron claimed to have appointed the director in the past. "I revealed his name, I said it many times, but they don't know because the journalist who made the note made the decision not to write it, and that shows how deep this problem is," she said. That story was first published several years ago, before the #MeToo movement took hold. “Strangely, when the Harvey Weinstein case became known, I first decided to Google this interview. My statements were everywhere, however, you could not find the name of this man in any note, and that made me very angry. "
Megan fox
A few days ago, Megan Fox made headlines again for a snippet from a 2009 interview on Jimmy Kimmel's show. In it, the actress confessed that at the age of 15, director Michael Bay forced her to dance in a bikini and heels to give her an extra role in Two Rebel Policemen II, in 2003. Years later, she revealed that she had also been forced to wash the laundry. Bay's Ferrari during her audition for the leading role in Transformers, the saga that brought her to fame. Although Fox has described working with Bay as a "nightmare", due to his tyrannical and misogynistic behavior, which he came to compare with Adolf Hitler, and has denounced that the hyper s**xualization of his famous character ended up destroying his career, this time he came out in defense of the director. “At no point did I get naked or anything like that at the Transformers casting. Nor was I a minor when I did that test, and they did not force me to wash anyone's car in a way that was not in the script, "she said in a post on Instagram.
She added, "As for my direct work experiences with Michael Bay and Steven Spielberg (Transformers producer), I can assure you that I was never assaulted or attacked in a way that felt s**xual."
However, Fox clarified that he was a victim of the abuse of power and machismo that prevails in the Hollywood film industry: “These specific anecdotes were inconsequential in a long and arduous journey throughout which I have had to endure some truly heartbreaking experiences within a ruthlessly misogynistic industry. There are a lot of names that deserve to go viral in cancellation culture right now, but they are locked away in the broken pieces of my heart, ”she was honest.
Gwyneth paltrow
Gwyneth Paltrow has been one of the Hollywood stars most involved in public complaints against Harvey Weinstein, who is serving a 23-year prison sentence after being found guilty of several sex crimes. The Oscar winner revealed the unpleasant episode she lived with Weinstein, who tried to abuse her, and that her then boyfriend of hers, Brad Pitt, almost ended up beating up with the then all-powerful Hollywood to defend her. “It was strange… she was alone in the room with him. She came out of nowhere. I was surprised. I was shocked, "she said in relation to a meeting in which the producer and the actress met to talk about a movie. “She was a girl, she was petrified. She was very shocked by everything and had just agreed to do two movies with him, "she told The New York Times. Weinstein threatened to make her life miserable if she told anything about what happened. But she would not remain silent and told everything to her boyfriend: “I told him immediately, and one day when we were at the premiere of Hamlet, on Broadway. Harvey was there, and so was Brad, who came up and said, "If you make her feel uncomfortable again, I'll kill you," it was wonderful, "said the actress about what happened that day.
Thandie newton
British actress Thandie Newton revealed a dramatic fact that marked her life forever: she was sexually abused by a filmmaker at the beginning of her acting career. “The director, at the audition, had a camera recording my skirt and he asked me to touch my breasts while he thought about how a man made love to me in a scene. I thought it was a little weird, but I had done weird things before and there was a casting director in the room, ”he declared in W magazine. Years later, he discovered that the filmmaker had shown that recording in a poker game to his friends in his home, and a producer confessed to him at the Cannes festival that he had seen it. "I was so naive when I started, and I realized that we must prepare our children for this kind of thing," said the protagonist of Westworld, who today Today she is the mother of two daughters.
Susan Sarandon
In 2012, the activist and veteran actress offered an interview to Elle magazine in which she revealed what had happened to her with a casting director during her first steps in the cinema. “It was an unpleasant experience. I went into a room and he practically threw me on the table. I had just arrived in New York. I didn't think about it for a second. Was sated".
Jennifer Lawrence
Before hitting Hollywood and winning an Oscar, Jennifer Lawrence was humiliated during an audition. “The producers of a movie asked me to lose seven kilos in two weeks. The producer made me undress and line up with five other women, slimmer and also naked, and she told me that I had to use the photos from that shoot as inspiration for my diet. When I complained to the producer, she replied that she didn't know why everyone thought she was fat if for him she was 'perfectly fuckable' ". After that episode, she revealed herself, she was considered a "difficult" actress for studies.
Chloë sevigny
The actress spoke publicly about the harassment she suffered at various auditions by three well-known directors. Sevigny explained exactly what these moments were like: “I've had the typical 'What do you do after this?' Conversation; also the one about 'Do you want to go shopping, try on clothes, and play together in the changing room?' ”. As if that weren't enough, another snapped at him: “You should show your body more. You shouldn't expect to be as old as those actresses, you should get naked now. " Obviously, Sevigny refused and, as a consequence, she never got those papers.
Alison brie
During the promotion of the Glow series, Alison Brie denounced that during the auditions the actresses continue to endure behaviors as sexist as in the eighties. “When I was starting out, I went on a test that consisted of reading three lines for an episode of Entourage, and I had to wear a bikini. Or with very short shorts. And they said to me ‘Well, now can you take off your top?” The actress told Entertainment Weekly magazine. For Brie, nothing has changed in the hiring dynamics in the film mecca during the last decades.
Emmy rossum
The Shameless actress suffered an episode similar to Alison Brie. In 2016, her agent called to say that she could land a role in a major production if she went in a bikini to see the director of the film in question. She “told me: 'I'm ashamed to call you for this, but there is a great movie and they want to offer it to you. They love your work on the show, but the director wants you to go to his office in his bikini. There's no audition, that's all you have to do, '”she revealed at an actresses roundtable on The Hollywood Reporter. Before she went, the actress wanted to read the script to verify that her character was in a scene dressed that way, but she was not like that. “I didn't even go to the audition, or whatever that was. I'd heard anecdotes like that, but when it happened to me she blew me away, and for a second I thought, 'If the movie is good enough, should I do it?' You are not crazy". Rossum confessed that the director wanted to know if she was fat "It was like: 'We love your work, but we want to see your ass.' Are you kidding me? ”She added.
Meryl streep
Even the most awarded actress of the seventh art, she has had to face sexism and mistreatment from film producers. At 27, Meryl Streep was still a stranger when she auditioned with legendary producer Dino De Laurentiis for the King Kong remake in 1976. At the audition De Laurentiis made comments in Italian about how ugly Streep was. she knew the language and understood perfectly what he was saying about her. "I feel like you think I'm too ugly, but that's just your opinion ... I'm going to find a kinder one," he replied, the one who would later become a movie legend.
Maggie gyllenhaal
Jake Gyllenhaal's sister is also on the list of actresses who were reified early in her Hollywood career. “I remember going to audition for a really bad vampire movie, and they told me my dress wasn't attractive enough. My agent at the time suggested that I take a chance on something sexier, so I put on leather pants, a tight leopard top, and did the casting again, but I didn't get the part either. They told me I wasn't sexy enough, ”she explained on The Hollywood Reporter.
