Two female extras who spoke out about Francis Ford Coppola’s behavior on the set of “Megalopolis” have shared markedly different accounts of working with the filmmaker.
In a series of videos taken by a crewmember during filming last year and published by Variety in July, the director could be seen touching and attempting to kiss female extras during a nightclub scene.
The videos appeared to back up a report in the Guardian that said the director had apparently tried to kiss some of the female extras on the film’s set to try “to get them in the mood.”
However, according to one of the actors in the video, Coppola “did nothing to make me or for that matter anyone on set feel uncomfortable.”
Rayna Menz told Deadline that the only thing she was “disgusted” and “blindsided” by was the fact that the footage existed as it was supposed to be a closed set.
“That someone had video of that is just ridiculous and super unprofessional,” Menz said. “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.”
“He was nothing but professional, a gentleman, he was like this cute Italian grandfather, running around the set,” Menz added.
But Lauren Pagone, another extra who Coppola could be seen kissing and hugging in the video, has shared a differing version of events.
“I don’t appreciate anybody speaking for me,” Pagone told Variety on August 2 in reaction to Menz’s comments. “I would never speak for that actress.”
Pagone said that she was left “in shock” by the director’s advances.
“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,” she said.
Pagone added that she planned to stay silent about her experience until she was made aware that Menz had defended the director.
“I’ve kept my mouth shut. I’ve kept quiet. But it’s frustrating that she’s putting out there, ‘Hey, it was great for everyone’ when she doesn’t know what other people were feeling,” Pagone said.
“You can’t speak for anyone but yourself. My experience was different,” she added.
Variety also spoke to an unnamed cast member who said that during another scene involving a New Year’s Eve celebration, Coppola kissed several women on the cheek “without any kind of consent.”
“They all kind of laughed it off for a moment and then I could tell that they were just surprised,” the unnamed actor said.
A representative for Coppola did not respond to a request for comment sent from Business Insider, which was sent outside regular working hours.
However, he previously addressed the Guardian report in an interview with The New York Times published in June, before the set video leaked.
“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,” he said. “I’m not touchy-feely. I’m too shy.”
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