A week ago, Variety published Video Director Francis Ford Coppola was seen walking through a crowd and stopping to kiss a female extra on set. Now, an extra from the set of Megalopolis – where the incident took place – has expressed ‘shock’ that the filmmaker kissed her without her consent while filming a scene. (Also Read: The Godfather’s Francis Ford Coppola caught kissing young women on the set of Megalopolis, amid abuse allegations)
“I didn’t expect him to kiss me”
Lauren Pagon, an extra who participated in a nightclub sequence, says Francis approached her, pulled her toward him, and then hugged and kissed her. told “I was in shock. I didn’t expect him to kiss and hug me like that. I was taken aback. And I can tell you he came on to me a couple of times,” she told the same publication.
Another cast member also contacted the publication and claimed they saw Francis kissing “multiple women” in a separate scene involving New Year’s Eve celebrations. They claimed the filmmaker joked that he “might kiss a few people” and told the extras to behave as if they were at a typical holiday party.
The crew member who made the video published by the publication claimed that the Oscar-winning filmmaker would often “put himself in the shot” and “ruin it” in his excitement to “hug and kiss multiple women.” After several takes, he also allegedly declared, “Excuse me if I come over and kiss you. Just know this is purely for my pleasure.”
‘I feel disappointed and shocked’
However, a few days ago, another extra named Rena Menz said, spoke Speaking to Deadline, she denied that Francis committed ‘any kind of abuse’ during filming. She said she was ‘disgusted’ that the director was ‘anything but professional’.
She said, “He didn’t do anything that would make me or anyone else on set feel uncomfortable. I was disgusted, I was just unaware of it because it was a closed set. For someone to have a video of it is ridiculous and extremely unprofessional. It’s disgusting because he would always talk about how wonderful his wife is. His wife was on set with us most days. Watching that video and the message they were trying to send out, it’s disgusting. Just disgusting.”
Allegations of misbehavior on set
The videos follow an article published by The Guardian in May Detailed Alleged misbehavior on set by the director was pointed out by crew members. rejected Speaking to The New York Times about the allegations, he said, “My mother told me that if you make advances on a woman, it means you’re disrespecting her, and I certainly didn’t disrespect the girls I had crushes on. I’m not sentimental. I’m very shy.”
Megalopolis executive producer Darren Demetre also released a statement, saying “I was not aware of any complaints of harassment or bad behavior during the project.”
About Megalopolis
Megalopolis, directed by Francis, stars Adam Driver, Aubrey Plaza and Shia LaBeouf. It premiered at the Cannes Film Festival and competed for the Palme d’Or. The film will be released in theaters on September 27.
