He speaks from jail.
Harvey Weinstein responded to Julia Stiles lately saying that she “felt so slimy” filming a particular scene on the now-disgraced filmmaker’s behest for the 2000 rom-com “Down to You.”
On Brett Goldstein’s “Films To Be Buried With” podcast final week, the 43-year-old actress mentioned that Weinstein took artistic management of the reshoots on the movie directed by Kris Isacsson and compelled her to do a dance sequence.
“I love to dance, but it was dumb,” she recalled. “It was like, ‘OK, let’s get her on a pool table.’ It wasn’t even imaginative. 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.”
Weinstein, who’s at present behind bars serving a 16-year jail sentence after his 2022 rape conviction in California, reacted to Stiles’ feedback in an announcement to The Each day Beast Sunday.
“Julia Stiles is a talented and charismatic actress who naturally connects with audiences,” Weinstein mentioned. “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.”
Weinstein added, “That same instinct led David O. Russell and me to cast Julia in Silver Linings Playbook, where she once again delivered a standout performance.”
“Down to You” follows school college students in New York Metropolis, Al (Prinze) and Imogen (Stiles) who meet at a bar and endure a number of trials and tribulations earlier than they get their fortunately ever after.
Within the scene that Stiles talked about, Imogen places on Al Inexperienced’s “Let’s Stay Together” in her dorm and does just a little dance across the room and throughout the pool desk.
Stiles claimed on Goldstein’s podcast that the scene was added by Weinstein resulting from “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.”
She known as Weinstein’s resolution a “dumb” try and “capitalize on this trend.”
Stiles beforehand talked about Weinstein coming onto the undertaking after Isacsson had already written the script in a 2019 interview with Leisure Weekly.
“The movie changed a lot from the development process to the finished product,” she informed the outlet. “Kris Isacsson had a vision for it that was a lot darker, so I remember thinking it was really mature. Then Harvey Weinstein and Miramax ended up producing it and turned it into a movie that was much more of a commercial, upbeat romantic comedy, for better or worse.”
Along with his California rape conviction, Weinstein was additionally convicted in New York in 2020 of felony sexual assault and third-degree rape and sentenced to 23 years in jail. The previous film mogul will now have a retrial, beginning April 15, after his conviction was overturned final spring.
Regardless of being behind bars, Weinstein equally spoke out in an announcement earlier this month when Adrien Brody, who’s relationship his ex-wife Georgina Chapman, talked about the previous couple’s kids India, 14, and son Dashiell, 11, in his Oscars 2025 acceptance speech.
“Harvey is happy for Georgina and grateful that his kids are being loved and cared for as they deserve to be,” Weinstein’s rep informed The Submit.
