Kate Beckinsale has detailed years of harassment and abuse she suffered on various sets throughout her acting career.
In an Instagram video uploaded to her account on Sunday, the actress spoke out against Blake Lively following recent allegations against her co-star Justin Baldoni. He said he felt it was “topical” and “very important.”
“I’ve never met either of them and I wasn’t on set, so I can’t speak to that,” Beckinsale said. “But what I’m saying is that this machine kicks in when women complain about things that are legitimately offensive, upsetting, harmful, etc. in this industry.”
In the nearly five-minute video, the Canary Black actress goes on to talk about some of the harassment she’s faced throughout her career, including one time on the set of a movie where she badmouthed a male co-star and called her “that son of a bitch.” The case was recalled. He said that he was “drunk every day” on set.
“Obviously he’s going through something and I totally sympathize with that, but like the staff, I’m waiting six hours a day for him to learn his lines,” she said. explained. “That meant I wouldn’t be able to see my daughter at night for the entirety of the movie’s run. The studio’s response was to lend me a bike so I could ride around the studio grounds while I waited. And of course I was called shit and bitch. At one point during the take, I was called ‘you motherfucker.’
Ms. Beckinsale later recalled that a group of people once stood in front of her and said, “How can we make her attractive?” On two other sets, she said, she was “put on such a strict diet and exercise program” that she completely missed her period.
The Underworld actress said she was also placed in “dangerous combat situations” on two separate sets, with one of her male co-stars physically harming her while filming a fight scene. . When Beckinsale spoke about her injury, she said she was “ostracized” by the cast and crew.
“Sometimes certain actors find it kind of thrilling that they can legitimately harm women in combat,” Beckinsale said. “And I suffered so much that the MRI proved it. And what actually happened was that as soon as I said I had a problem, I was gassed and I realized that I was the problem. I was made to feel like I was, I was criticized, I was ostracized, I was excluded from cast dinners, I wasn’t talked to.”
Elsewhere in the Instagram video, the Fool’s Paradise star recalls being forced to do a photo shoot “by a publicist” “the day after I miscarried.”
“I said, ‘I can’t do this.’ I’m bleeding. I don’t want to change clothes and take pictures in front of strangers. I had a miscarriage and I’m bleeding,” Beckinsale said of the conversation. Ta. “And she said, ‘If you don’t do that, you’re going to be sued.’
Beckinsale also pointed out that the harassment women often face on Hollywood sets is “perpetual.”
“There are about 47 million stories like this,” she says. “When I was 18, I was inspired by someone on the crew that I really trusted. I went to the lead actress, who is known for being an advocate for women, and told her that something like this had happened. I was told, “No, that’s not true.” I went up to the other actress crying and told her I had just been assaulted by this man, and she said again, ‘No, you were not assaulted.’ ”
The Prisoner’s Daughter actress continued, “What’s really depressing about this situation going on forever is seeing so many men walking around saying, ‘Oh, not too long ago. It was so different, you know, the climate is so different, it’s so much different now. It’s so much better!”
Beckinsale added that it’s nearly impossible for women to be heard on set, and even when they voice legitimate complaints, they’re told, “You’re a piece of shit.”
“If you say that, you’ll be screwed,” she said. “You’re supposed to, you absorb it and somehow you’re a buddy. It has to stop. It has to stop. And it’s not like this is an outdated problem that no one is facing. Thanks to Blake Lively for highlighting that. This goes on. And when it actually happens, it sets in motion a machine that completely destroys you.”
In the long caption of her post, Beckinsale said she feels this is a problem that happens in every industry, but added: “It’s just a little more noticeable in our industry.”
“Complaining about abuse should not lead to further abuse. Especially in a workplace where impenetrable safeguards are supposed to be in place. or any other form of abuse (primarily violent abuse) should not be expected of a woman who has been abused, primarily by violence.” If not, you will have to face retribution for being abused in the first place,” the actress wrote.
Beckinsale ended her caption with: “There are far too many victims of this, many of whom I know personally. It is really important that both men and women in this industry get involved in eradicating this for good.”
