Debra Messing said she went through some serious stuff on the set of her first major film. Messing got her first big break in 1995's A Walk in the Clouds, playing the wife of leading man—and then-Hollywood megastar—Keanu Reeves. Messing, just 25 at the time, was excited for the gig. Her first Hollywood film! Keanu Reeves! But unfortunately, she says her experience on set was far from delightful. While speaking at the 2017 Makers Conference in Rancho Palos Verdes, California, Messing detailed the experience.
First, Messing alleges the director, Alfonso Arau, body-shamed her when she was filming a kissing scene with Reeves. She claims that Arau insulted her face, saying it was ruining the film.
Messing was in shock, naturally, and seriously unsettled by the director's alleged comments. "I went into my trailer and cried," she told the crowd. "That girl that believed that she could do anything, who felt equipped with invaluable skills and proud of her education and was unreasonably confident, was gone. I felt ugly, I felt like garbage, and I felt deep shame."
On the second day of shooting, Messing alleges that the director told her she'd be doing a n-de scene—even though she says she never signed on for that. She did the n-de scene, fearing she'd be fired otherwise. And when the film finally made it to theaters, she was shocked to see the final version.
"After all this trauma, the only part of my body that is seen n-ked in the film is my back," she told the crowd.
After the experience, Messing told her agents she was done doing movies—she'd try sitcoms instead. And, well, we all know how that worked out for the Will & Grace star. Gossip site TooFab.com reached out to the director, Alfonso Arau, to see if he had a comment about Messing's claims. Arau's team denied both stories.
It's heartbreaking to hear how Messing felt while filming her first Hollywood film. And it's far from the first time we've heard about body shaming in Hollywood.
