Julia Stiles has shared the details of an uncomfortable experience she had working on a film with Harvey Weinstein.
The convicted rapist is currently awaiting a retrial for a number of charges including that he forcibly performed oral sex on a movie and TV production assistant in 2006 and raped an aspiring actor in 2013.
An additional charge was filed last September, which alleges that he forced oral sex on a different woman at a Manhattan hotel in 2006. Weinstein denies the charges. His 2022 conviction still stands.
Stiles, 43, worked with Weinstein on the 2000 romantic comedy, Down to You. Written and directed by Kris Isaacson, the film also co-starred Freddie Prinze Jr. But the 10 Things I Hate About You star slammed it for being one of the worst movies ever made and blamed Weinstein.
"It was a time when teen romcoms were really popular and the director wrote the script,” she told Ted Lasso star Brett Goldstein on the Films to be Buried With podcast. “He was a first-time director and he was a very, very intelligent, capable guy. The script was very good. And then Harvey Weinstein got his hands on it."
She explained: “Because of the success of Save the Last Dance, or the success of 10 Things I Hate About You, with me dancing on the pool table, he needed to have me dancing in the film."
Stiles said Weinstein tried to “capitalise” on pool table scenes trend and called his attempt to do so “dumb”.
"I felt so slimy doing it the whole time," she said "It was annoying. Because I was like, 'Well, this is so cheap, and it's not adding to the story.'"
The former film producer, who suffers from chronic myeloid leukemia, diabetes and heart problems, is currently detained in Rikers Island, awaiting retrial, while also serving a 2022 conviction for raping an actress in 2013.
Actor and fashion designer Georgina Chapman filed to divorce Weinstein in October 2017 after the allegations against her husband came to light. The pair had been married for 10 years.
