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Topics: News, US News, Film and TV, Celebrity
Gabriella Ferlita
Anna Faris has said that Ivan Reitman was the director who she previously accused of inappropriate behaviour.
The pair worked together on the 2006 rom-com My Super Ex-Girlfriend and claimed that the late director inappropriately touched her on set.
The actor, now 45, first spoke about the incident in 2017 during the rise of the #MeToo movement, in which she claimed a man - whom she didn’t name - ‘slapped my a**’ on set.
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She said: “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 a– in front of the crew so hard. And all I could do was giggle.”
Faris sadly claimed that she didn’t know what to do at that moment, so turned to make light of the situation as a way to process what happened.
“I remember looking around and I remember seeing the crew members 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.”
However, it has now appeared to come to light that the man in question on the set of the film was said to be Reitman.
Speaking on her Unqualified podcast, the actress claimed that the Canadian filmmaker was the one behind the incident during the production of the movie and even ‘yelled’ at the actor, who was around 30 at the time, and caused her to feel ‘angry, hurt and humiliated’.
During the podcast, she said to fellow actor and filmmaker Lena Dunham: “One of my hardest film experiences was with Ivan Reitman. I mean, the idea of attempting to make a comedy under this, like, reign of terror, he was a yeller. He would bring down somebody every day…and my first day, it was me.”
The Scary Movie actor described having to hold back tears during her first encounter with the director after an accident caused her to be late on set.
Dunham set in response to the claims against Reitman: “I don’t think you’re the first person who’s reported that. And I’m so sorry you had that experience. And did no one step in and say, “No?”
Faris then responded, “No. It was, like, 2006.”
The actor also claimed that the director had made inappropriate remarks about her body, too, adding: “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. Therefore I felt like I’m hired because of these elements — not because of [talent].”
The Czech-born director died in February this year, and is also the man behind movies like No Strings Attached, Ghostbusters and Twins.
UNILAD has contacted a representative of Anna Faris and Ivan Reitman’s estate for a comment.
If you have been affected by any of the issues in this article and wish to speak to someone in confidence, contact The Survivor’s Trust for free on 08088 010 818, or through their website thesurvivorstrust.org