Anna Faris opened up about upsetting events she allegedly experienced on theset of My Super Ex Girlfriend in the latest episode of her podcast,Unqualified , during which she and guest Lena Dunham discussed theirexperiences working in Hollywood.
During the episode, Faris, 45, revealed that the acclaimed comedy directorIvan Reitman, who died in February at the age of 75, created a “reign ofterror” on the set of the 2006 film. That includes claims that he yelled ather and sexually harassed her in front of the crew.
“Can I speak ill of the dead?” Faris posed. “One of my hardest filmexperiences was with Ivan Reitman. I mean, the idea of attempting to make acomedy under this, like, reign of terror. He was a yeller. He would bring downsomebody every day … and my first day, it was me.”
Ivan Reitman, left, and Anna Faris pictured in 2014 at an event in Las Vegas.(Photo: Charley Gallay/Getty Images for CinemaCon)
Reitman was known for directing legendary comedies like meatballs ,Ghostbusters, Twins, and Junior. He also produced a string of hitsincluding Animal House, Space Jam and Private Parts.
Faris said that on her first day of shooting My Super Ex Girlfriend, she hadto film a fight sequence with co-star Uma Thurman in which she had to wear ared wig. However, right before she was to arrive on set, the hair and makeupperson accidentally knocked “a big jar of wig glue” all over Faris’ costume,causing her to show up late.
“I was, like, 20 to 25 minutes late on my very first [day],” she explained. “Iwas terrified, truly, that my first day, Ivan thinks that I’m some kind ofdiva that’s not coming out of my trailer.”
“I’m, like, in the middle of the street that’s all lit, you know, it’s a nightshoot. And Ivan is just taking me down,” Faris explained. “He was like,’Annie!’ He’d always called me Annie. He’s like, “You can’t play like thataround here. Like, this is not like…” And I was like, “Don’t do it. Don’t cry.No crying. ‘ I felt angry and hurt and humiliated and defensive.”
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“Eventually, I said, ‘Did no one tell you what happened?'” she continued. “Andat that point, he kind of just shut up and then he, like, went behind thecamera. But then later, he slapped my ass, too. That was a weird moment.”
Anna Faris in 2017. (Photo: REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni)
While reflecting on the experience, Faris told Dunham her strategy at the timewas to not speak out, because she was afraid of potential backlash.
“It was like, ‘I’m going to lay low and play it safe. I am taking zero risk inthis movie,'” she remembers thinking.
“I don’t think you’re the first person who’s reported that,” Dunham told herof Reitman’s alleged abuse. “And I’m so sorry you had that experience. And didno one step in and say, ‘No?'”
“No. It was, like, 2006,” responds Faris, citing that the event happenedbefore the #MeToo movement.
“Sometimes, like with that incident, I think that I’m still of the generationand of the mentality of, like, how to calibrate that element. Like, on onehand, it wasn’t anything. Whatever. My ass is fine ,” she explained. “On theother hand, it was like, I did have, like, 30 people around me, I think,expecting me to do something. And I didn’t.”
the mom star previously spoke about the experience in a 2017 episode of herpodcast, but without naming Reitman directly.
“I was doing a scene where I was on a ladder and I was supposed to be takingbooks off a shelf and he slapped my ass in front of the crew so hard. And allI could do was giggle,” she said at the time. “I remember looking around and Iremember seeing the crew members being like, ‘Wait, what are you going to doabout that? That seemed weird.’ And that’s how I dismissed it.”
Faris continued, “I was like, ‘Well, this isn’t a thing. Like, it’s not thatbig 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.”
The actress also claimed that the director in question, now known to beReitman, told her agent she was hired because of her “great legs” and not heracting ability.
“I remember that same director telling my agent, who told me, that I had greatlegs and that was one of the reasons that I got hired,” she said in 2017. “Andlisten, that’s a fucking great compliment. I like my legs. But that sort ofinformed my whole experience with that whole project. I don’t think the malelead got hired because he had great legs. Therefore I felt like I’m hiredbecause of these elements — not because of [talent].”