Anna Faris revealed that she has personally experienced sexual misconduct in Hollywood.
The Mom actress, 40, detailed the incident on Tuesday, October 24, during an episode of her podcast, Unqualified. She revealed that the occurrence took place on a movie set earlier in her career and happened in front of the crew by an unnamed director.
“I was doing a scene where I was on a ladder and I was supposed to be taking books off a shelf and he slapped my ass in front of the crew so hard,” she said. “And all I could do was giggle.”
She continued: “I remember looking around and I remember seeing the crewmembers being like, ‘Wait, what are you going to do about that? That seemed weird.’ And that’s how I dismissed it. I was like, ‘Well, this isn’t a thing. Like, it’s not that big of a deal. Buck up, Faris. Like, just giggle.’ But it made me feel small. He wouldn’t have done that to the lead male.”
The Scary Movie star also recalled a bizarre conversation she had with her agent about the director. “I remember that same director telling my agent, who told me, that I had great legs and that was one of the reasons that I got hired. And listen, that’s a f—ing great compliment. I like my legs. But that sort of informed my whole experience with that whole project. I don’t think the male lead got hired because he had great legs.”
When it comes to the sexual harassment of women, Faris opened up about the fear that comes along with addressing the situation: “We’re conditioned to giggle. But also, if we were to do anything else, we’d be labeled a bitch or difficult,” she said. “It puts everyone at ease. That’s the defense mode you go into.”
The upsetting story comes on the heels of a huge scandal involving Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein, who has been accused by multiple actresses of sexual harassment and assault following exposés in the New York Times and The New Yorker. As previously reported, the producer was fired by his own company on October 8 and entered a treatment center on October 13, in Arizona, but left treatment after just one week.
