In a new interview, Samantha Morton discusses the nature of her connection with Harvey Weinstein. Morton alleges that the notorious Hollywood producer attempted to sabotage her acting career in a recent interview that was featured on The Louis Theroux Podcast.
After she declined to appear in Weinstein’s romantic comedy About Adam, which was released in 2000 and starred Kate Hudson, Stuart Townsend, and Frances O’Connor, the actress from Minority Report says that Weinstein discriminated against her in his film productions.
According to Morton, Weinstein was taken by her performance in the 1997 film Under the Skin and wanted her to feature in About Adam. However, she was not interested in the movie and she turned down the offer.
“I said, ‘I don’t like it,'” Morton recalls declining the offer to purchase the item. “‘I think the film is really misogynistic, and I don’t want to be a part of it.'”
According to Morton, the casting director allegedly reacted by telling her, “You don’t say no to Harvey.”
Although the actress declined the part, she explained to Theroux that her decision was not a rejection of him personally but rather of the movie itself, stating that she found the idea to be uninteresting.
I had just finished working with Stuart Townsend on the film Under the Skin. It just did not pique my curiosity in any way. I tried my best to be courteous,” she continued.
Morton said, “At that time, I received a phone call that simply stated, ‘You can’t say no.'” The ‘no’ that was being communicated wasn’t being heard. They persisted in offering me this employment, and I was warned categorically that if I did not accept it, I would never find another job. Your life is going to become a living misery because of me. You will never have a job again.'”
Morton said that she maintained her integrity and persistently declined the job, although she was of the opinion that this decision lost her future opportunities in some of Weinstein’s other movies, such as The Brothers Grimm, which was released in 2005.
According to Morton, Weinstein, who is 71 years old, said that the reason he did not want her to star in the fantasy picture headed by Matt Damon and Heath Ledger was because she was “unf**kable.” Instead of her, Lena Headey was chosen to play the part.
“It prompted me to wonder why he was so antagonistic toward me.” Morton stated this in reference to Weinstein, who is presently serving a prison sentence for the crime of rape. Then she had the epiphany that her refusal to work with About Adam was the root cause of all that had transpired.
“Because it happened so many years ago, I completely forgot about it. “And then all these years later, I realized that if Miramax or then the Weinstein Company had anything to do with it, it was just awful for me,” she said. “And then all these years later, I realized that [when] I get an offer, get a letter from a director, if Miramax or then the Weinstein Company had anything to do with it, it was just awful for me.” “He had a motive, a deep-seated motivation, to basically attempt to ruin my career… but he didn’t tell me what it was… Because I continued to work, doing independent films in different countries all over the globe, there was no way he could.
In spite of what Morton has described as an effort to “destroy” her career, she has continued to work and appear in important productions such as Steven Spielberg’s Minority Report, The Walking De.ad, and The Whale, which won an Academy Award.
She also appeared in the #MeToo drama, She Said, which recounts the investigation that The New York Times conducted into allegations of sexual assault made against Harvey Weinstein.
Weinstein, on the other hand, is now serving two sentences that are running concurrently: the first is a term of 23 years that he is serving as a result of his conviction for sexual assault in New York in 2020, and the second is a sentence of 16 years for perpetrating sex crimes in Los Angeles County.