Debra Messing Reveals Sexual Harassment At The Hand Of ‘Ass-Hat’ Movie Director

Actress Debra Messing, most known for her starring role in Will & Grace, has told of her horrendous treatment by director Alfonso Arau while working on one of her first acting gigs, on 1995 film A Walk in the Clouds.

As actresses are increasingly speaking up about their past sexist, exploitative and degrading treatment on set, Messing labelled Arau an “ass-hat”, describing the alleged harassment while speaking at a MAKERS Conference in California.

She said during her time acting in the Keanu Reeves romantic drama, she was made to do a nude scene out of the blue, despite not consenting to this when she accepted the role. When she spoke up, the actress said the director told her:

“Your job is to get naked and to say the lines. That’s it,” Messing recalled.

The Emmy award-winning actress was only 25 years-old at the time. When shooting the nude scene Messing said that Arau insisted on setting the sheet over her body with his hands.

“He lifts it, scans my naked body, then drops the sheet on top of me like a used Kleenex. He walks away without a word,” the actress said.

“The whole thing was a power play, a game,” she added, “and the goal, to demean me, to strip me of my power and make me feel on a cellular level his dominance over me”.

Adding insult to injury, Messing also recalled the filmmaker making personal comments about her looks, in particular, her nose, commenting, “How quickly can we get a plastic surgeon in here? Her nose is ruining my movie,” Messing said.

She was even asked to hide her nose from the camera in a kissing scene with Reeves. Messing said she felt “deep shame” for her Jewish heritage, revealing “I felt ugly. I felt like garbage”.

Arau’s rep has since responded describing Messing’s comments as “false”. He replied that the actress was never nude during the filming of the scene in question, and denied the comments about her nose.

He actually defended his actions by saying he chose Messing over many other actresses, so if he was unhappy with her nose, he wouldn’t have chosen her.

Err… lucky her? Dude sounds like a grade A creep.

Watch the full MAKERS speech by Messing here, it’s definitely worth hearing.