Anna Faris has come forward with her own story of sexual harassment in Hollywood, outlining on her latest podcast the abuse she suffered at the hands of an unnamed director on the set of a film she shot earlier in her career.
“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,” said Faris on her “Unqualified” podcast Tuesday. “And all I could do was giggle.”
In the wake of the Harvey Weinstein scandal and revelations about director James Toback, Faris’ podcast addressed the recent #MeToo social media movement. The “Mom” star added she felt she had to play along with the harassment.
“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,’” the actress said.
“But it made me feel small,” she said. “He wouldn’t have done that to the lead male.”
Faris said the harassment was compounded by unprofessional comments from 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,” said Faris. “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,” she added. “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].”
To listen to the entire conversation between Faris and actress Arielle Kebbel, check out the audio below.