Harvey Weinstein mandated reshoots made actress feel ‘slimy’
Julia Stiles didn’t care for Harvey Weinstein’s demands for reshoots on a film she starred in, saying it made her feel "slimy" and the final product was "executed very poorly."
Stiles spoke about the making of her 2000 teen rom-com "Down to You," on the "Films to Be Buried With with Brett Goldstein" podcast.
"It was a time when teen rom-coms were really popular," she explained. "The director [Kris Isacsson] wrote the script. 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 and decided to capitalize on this trend. And it just became dumb."
"Down to You" also co-starred Freddie Prinze Jr., who Stiles noted was "lovely, [and a] wonderful actor."
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According to Stiles, Weinstein wanted to make the most of her recent success with other teen-oriented films that featured her dancing.
"They’re pouring money at it in stupid ways," she said. "So when we went and did reshoots, and I’m told that he [Weinstein] decided that 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."
While the "Mona Lisa Smile" actress admitted she liked dancing in her projects and would "make a whole movie dancing," she felt it didn’t make sense for her character.
"I love to dance, but it was dumb. It was like, ‘OK, let’s get her on a pool table.’ It wasn’t even imaginative," Stiles said. "And I felt so slimy doing it the whole time. I don’t know if that actually made it in the film, but it was annoying, ’cause I was like, this is so cheap and it’s not adding to the story."
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In a statement to Fox News Digital via a representative, Weinstein said, "Julia Stiles is a talented and charismatic actress who naturally connects with audiences. Beyond her acting skills, she’s also a fantastic dancer, which was something fans really wanted at the time. I included that scene in ‘Down to You’ to enhance the film’s appeal, and her chemistry with Freddie Prinze Jr. made it work seamlessly."
He continued, "As a filmmaker, I’ve always sought ways to elevate a project, and when I see an opportunity to make a film better, I take it. That same instinct led David O. Russell and me to cast Julia in ‘Silver Linings Playbook,’ where she once again delivered a standout performance."
"Silver Linings Playbook" was produced by The Weinstein Company and released in 2012.
Weinstein is currently due in court on April 15 for a retrial of his 2020 overturned rape conviction.
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In a 4-3 decision, a court found that Weinstein's trial judge allowed prosecutors to call women who said Weinstein had assaulted them to testify, even though their accusations did not specifically relate to the entertainment mogul's charges.
His retrial in April will feature the same allegations, with the addition of a new accuser.
Weinstein is being retried on charges he forcibly performed oral sex on a movie and TV production assistant in 2006 and raped an aspiring actor in 2013. The additional charge, filed last September, alleges he forced oral sex on a different woman at a Manhattan hotel in 2006.
Fox News Digital’s Lauryn Overhultz and the Associated Press contributed to this report.