Naomie Harris has claimed she was sexually harassed by a “huge star” during an audition.
According to the actor, the project’s casting director and director were present during the incident but did not intervene.
Harris, who recently appeared as Moneypenny in the James Bond blockbuster No Time To Die, said she feels “very lucky” to have experienced only one such incident given the scale of reported abuse in the industry.
Speaking to The Mail on Sunday’s You magazine, Harris recalled how an actor, whom she did not name, slid his hand up her skirt while she was reading for a role.
She said: “What was so shocking about it was the casting director was there and the director and, of course, no one said anything because he was – he is – such a huge star.
“That was my only #MeToo incident, so I felt very lucky, given how rife that behaviour was.”
Harris photographed at the ‘No Time to Die’ premiere in September 2021
(Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images)
The actress added: “I was on a project where there was a #MeToo incident and there was no hesitation, [the perpetrator] was immediately removed.”
The #MeToo movement spread globally in 2018 as women within the entertainment industry came forward to share their stories of assault and harassment.
What was so shocking about it was the casting director was there and the director, and of course no one said anything because he was – he is – such a huge star
Naomie Harris
Harris has previously spoken out about how the strength of women on and off screen had changed the film industry since the start of the #MeToo movement and said she was “proud” to come into the profession by setting her “own standards” and “sticking to them”.
Harris, from north London, starred as witch Tia Dalma in the Pirates Of The Caribbean films and appeared in the 2016 coming-of-age story Moonlight, earning herself nominations at the Golden Globes, Baftas and Oscars. She was made an OBE in the 2017 New Year Honours.
This comes as The Crown star Claire Foy has condemned the Metropolitan police’s handling of Sarah Everard’s murder and said she was angered that the onus was on women to protect themselves against men.
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Metropolitan Police officer Wayne Couzens used his police issue handcuffs and warrant card to stage a fake arrest so he could kidnap 33-year-old Everard before he raped and murdered her earlier this year.
Claire Foy has spoken out on her anger that the onus was on women to protect themselves against men (Yui Mok/PA)
(PA Wire)
Speaking to the Sunday Times culture magazine, Foy said: “Hundreds of women get attacked every single day. It makes me so angry.
“How can you look into making women safe and think about getting more policemen — who women don’t trust — to look after them?
“We don’t need looking after. We don’t. We need people to stop killing and raping us. That’s all. It’s simple. And it’s awful to say, but that’s men. It’s time to say, ‘You sort that out. What are you going to do?’”
The actor will play Margaret Campbell, Duchess of Argyll, in BBC’s A Very British Scandal which will play out the high-profile divorce between Campbell and her husband, the 11th Duke of Argyll, played by Paul Bettany.
The story is said to be one of the first instances of a woman being a victim of revenge porn within the mass media as an explicit Polaroid picture of Campbell in the midst of a sexual act is used against her.
