Extra from Megalopolis set breaks silence on Francis Ford Coppola's forceful kissing: ‘I was in shock’
A week after videos of director Francis Ford Coppola kissing female extras on the sets of Megalopolis were published, one of them speaks out.
A week ago, Variety published videos of director Francis Ford Coppola milling through a crowd and stopping only to kiss female extras on set. Now, an extra from the set of Megalopolis - where the incident took place - expressed ‘shock’ that the filmmaker kissed her without consent while filming a scene. (Also Read: Godfather's Francis Ford Coppola caught kissing young females on Megalopolis set amid misconduct claims)
‘I didn’t expect him to kiss me’
An extra called Lauren Pagone, who took part in a nightclub sequence, says Francis approached her, pulled her towards him, and then hugged and kissed her. She told the same publication, “I was in shock. I didn’t expect him to kiss and hug me like that. I was caught off guard. And I can tell you he came around a couple times.”
Another cast member also approached the publication and claimed to have seen Francis kissing ‘multiple women’ in a different scene involving a New Year’s Eve celebration. They claimed that the filmmaker joked that he ‘might jump in a kiss a few people’ asking the extras to behave as if they were at a typical holiday party.
The crew member who took the video that the publication published claimed that the Oscar-winning filmmaker often ‘inserted himself into the shot’ and ‘ruined it’ in his enthusiasm to ‘hug and kiss several women’. After multiple takes, he also supposedly announced, “Sorry if I come up to you and kiss you. Just know it’s solely for my pleasure.”
‘I feel disgusted and blindsided’
A couple of days ago, another extra called Rayna Menz, however, spoke to Deadline and denied that Francis ‘misbehaved at all’ during filming. She shared that she was ‘disgusted’ by the insinuation that the director was ‘anything but professional’.
She said, “He did nothing to make me or for that matter anyone on set feel uncomfortable. I felt disgusted, I was blindsided by it because it was a closed set. That someone had video of that is just ridiculous and super unprofessional. It’s gross because he only ever spoke about how wonderful his wife is. His wife was on set with us, most days. It feels gross, seeing that video and they way they were trying to convey a message. Just gross.”
Misconduct allegations on set
These videos come after an article published by The Guardian in May detailed the director’s alleged misconduct on set as pointed out by crew members. He denied the allegations to The New York Times and said, “My mother told me that if you make an advance toward a woman, it means you disrespect her, and the girls I had crushes on, I certainly didn’t disrespect them. I’m not touchy-feely. I’m too shy.”
Megalopolis executive producer Darren Demetre also released a statement, “I was never aware of any complaints of harassment or ill behavior during the course of the project.”
About Megalopolis
Directed by Francis, Megalopolis stars Adam Driver, Aubrey Plaza, and Shia LaBeouf in the lead roles. It premiered at the Cannes Film Festival and competed for the Palme d'Or. The film will be released theatrically on September 27.