Actress Anna Faris has claimed that the late director Ivan Reitman inappropriately touched her on the set of their 2006 rom-com My Super Ex Girlfriend.
Speaking on her podcast Unqualified, the actress disclosed that Reitman “slapped my ass” during the production and on her first day “yelled” at her, leaving her feeling “angry, hurt and humiliated”.
During a candid conversation with actress and filmmaker Lena Dunham, Faris said: “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.”
During a wide-ranging discussion about different behaviors on set, the Mom and Overboard actress said that she had to fight back tears during her turbulent first interaction with Reitman after she was late to set due to an accident.
In response to Faris’s claim that Reitman slapped her behind, Dunham said: “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?”
“No. It was, like, 2006,” responds Faris.
The actress has described the incident in the past, but not previously revealed the name of the director. Back in 2017, in the early days of the #MeToo movement, the actress said of the experience:
“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 said she didn’t know how to react so turned to humor as a defence mechanism.
“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.”
At the same time, the actress also claimed the filmmaker told her agent that she was hired because of her “great legs.”
“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,” Faris revealed. “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].”
Reitman is best known for directing hits such the first two Ghostbusters movies, Twins, Kindergarten Cop and Junior. He produced on movies including Animal House, Space Jam and Private Parts. The revered Czech-born Canadian director passed away earlier this year aged 75.
We have reached out to the producers of My Super Ex Girlfriend for comment.
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