Greta Gerwig has had some time to think about her 2012 collaboration with Woody Allen, and she has something to say about it.
"I can only speak for myself and what I’ve come to is this: If I had known then what I know now, I would not have acted in the film," Gerwig told Frank Bruni in an interview for the New York Times.
Given the atmosphere this year, Gerwig has been scrutinized for her decision to work with Allen, who has been accused of sexual assault by adopted daughter Dylan Farrow. At the 2018 Golden Globes, Gerwig fielded a question about her role in the 2012 film To Rome with Love, but she didn't yet have an answer.
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"It’s something that I’ve thought deeply about, and I care deeply about, and I haven’t had an opportunity to, um, have an in-depth discussion where I come down on one side or another," Gerwig told reporters backstage.
In the interview with the Times, which was published just two days later, Gerwig seemed to have had her in-depth discussion.
Gerwig collaborated with Allen in 2012, two years before Farrow published an open letter in the Times regarding sex abuse allegations against Allen from 1993. Farrow's piece was spurred, fittingly, by the 2014 Golden Globes, where Allen received the Lifetime Achievement Award. Since then, Allen has been an increasing source of controversy, even as he continues to make movies with high-profile talent.
The Times' work on sexual harassment and assault in Hollywood have pushed the Allen conversation almost to a tipping point: Farrow published another piece, this time in the LA Times, which inspired the first of Allen's high-profile talent to reject him publicly. Ellen Page, who also appeared in To Rome with Love, wrote in a Facebook post that she was "ashamed" of her decision to do the movie.
"It is the biggest regret of my career," she added.
Others who have worked with Allen are more evasive about the director. When asked about the allegations at the Santa Barbara Film Festival, as per TIME, Cate Blanchett deftly avoided the question, saying, "It’s obviously been a long and painful situation for the family and I hope they find some sort of resolution and peace."
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Alec Baldwin, who also starred in To Rome with Love, lashed out at reporters asking about the allegations on Twitter in 2013. He wrote, as per The Hollywood Reporter, "What the f&@% is wrong w u that u think we all need to b commenting on this family’s personal struggle?" (These tweets have since been deleted.) More recently, the actress Kate Winslet received criticism for defending the director and writer, while Selena Gomez, who worked with Allen in an as-of-yet unreleased film, told Billboard that she wasn't sure how to answer questions about him.
Allen's history has been suspect since 1993, when Farrow's accusations first made headlines. Given that the investigation into her claims found no evidence of sex abuse, celebrities were able to make films with Allen for years with relative impunity. But, with the arrival of the #metoo movement, actors are being held accountable for such decisions. This is a reckoning, which means the events of the past are suddenly back on the table, and celebrities must be ready to discuss them.
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