Just when you thought you’d heard every “Harvey Weinstein is a monster” story, something new emerges.
The latest tale comes courtesy of Samantha Morton, who appeared on the Spotify’s “The Louis Theroux Podcast” and recounted how the one-time megaproducer once threatened that she “will not work again” after she declined starring in one of his movies — and in one instance, he made good on that promise.
Morton recalled on the podcast interview, published Monday, how she declined to star in a 2000 romantic comedy “About Adam,” which eventually starred Kate Hudson, Stuart Townsend and Frances O’Connor. Weinstein then threatened to ruin her life.
“I said, ‘I don’t like it.’ I think the film is really misogynistic, and I don’t want to be part of it,’” shes said. “The casting director came back with, ‘You don’t say no to Harvey.’” To which she said, “Well it’s not to him. I just don’t want to do this film.”
“I was uber polite,” she added. But of course, that was not the end of it.
“I had a phone call saying, ‘You can’t say no.’ The ‘no’ wasn’t being listened to. They kept coming back with this role and I was told unequivocally, ‘You’re not going to work again unless you do this role. I’m going to make your life hell. You will not work again.’”
Still, she refused. Years later, Mortan said Weinstein blocked her from appearing in Terry Gilliam’s “The Brothers Grimm” and believed it stemmed from her turning down “About Adam.” At the time of the “Brothers Grimm” casting, Weinstein declared that she was “unf–kable.”
Of course, the producer didn’t end her career. She has appeared in a number of acclaimed projects, including Steven Spielberg’s “Minority Report,” Lynne Ramsay’s “Movern Callar,” Jim Sheridan’s “In America,” Charlie Kaufman’s “Synecdoche, New York,” David Cronenberg’s “Cosmopolis” and Andrew Stanton’s “John Carter.”
What’s more, she recently starred in “She Said,” portraying a woman who had come out against Weinstein in the investigative lead-up to him being outed as a serial sexual predator. (Weinstein is currently imprisoned on rape charges.)
