Jeff Daniels, Peter Sarsgaard Join Growing Group of Actors Rejecting Woody Allen, Sort Of
[embedded content] For the last few weeks, prominent actors have slowly begun turning their backs o..
For the last few weeks, prominent actors have slowly begun turning their backs on Woody Allen. From Timothée Chalamet to Greta Gerwig to Natalie Portman, more and more stars are distancing themselves from the Academy Award winner in the wake of the #MeToo movement, inspired to change their tunes because of Dylan Farrow’sconsistent claims that Allen, her estranged father, sexually abused her as a child. (Allen has repeatedly denied the allegations.) It’s no surprise, then, that more actors are being asked where they stand on the issue, and whether they would do an Allen film in the future. In a Monday night interview on Meet the Press,Chuck Todd asked Peter Sarsgaard and Jeff Daniels—both of whom have worked with Allen before—point blank what they would do moving forward.
“That one’s hard,” Daniels said. “It’s a difficult decision because of Purple Rose of Cairo. That movie will always be a great experience, a great movie for me. And he will always be a great American filmmaker. And I got to work with him at the age of 30, and it changed my life.”
Starring in Allen’s 1985 film, The Purple Rose of Cairo—alongside actress Mia Farrow, Dylan’s mother and Allen’s estranged former partner—essentially launched Daniels’s nascent film career and earned him his first Golden Globe nomination. He was also fond enough of the film that he later named his Michigan-based theater company after it. However, the rising tide that has formed against Allen, specifically because of Farrow’s allegations against him, has shifted Daniels’s perception of the director.
“I believe Dylan Farrow,” Daniels continued. “Would I do another one with Woody? The difficult decision would be to turn him down, because of Purple Rose.”
Sarsgaard, who starred in Allen’s 2013 drama, Blue Jasmine, was less ambiguous, saying he would not make another film with the director. (Farrow’s allegations began making headlines again in early 2014, when Blue Jasmine was nominated for a slew of accolades and the Golden Globes honored Allen with the Cecil B. DeMille lifetime achievement award.) “I believe people when they say, ‘I was assaulted’ or ‘I was molested,’” he said, referencing the #MeToo movement at large. “If we start not believing people, it’s a slippery slope.” Then again, Sarsgaard later added, he would still “go back and watch” older Allen movies: “He’s a fantastic filmmaker.”
Get Vanity Fair’s HWD NewsletterSign up for essential industry and award news from Hollywood.Full ScreenPhotos:Oprah, Tessa Thompson, and More of the Must-See Looks from the Wrinkle in Time PremiereYohana DestaYohana Desta is a Hollywood writer for VanityFair.com.
