'Lady Bird' director Greta Gerwig said she regrets both working with Woody Allen, and that she 'increased another woman's pain'
- In an interview with The New York Times, "Lady Bird" writer and director Greta Gerwig acknowledged her past work with Woody Allen.
- Allen's films inspired Gerwig, but she said she regretted that she ever worked with him on the 2012 film, "To Rome With Love."
- Writer and "Molly's Game" director Aaron Sorkin also weighed in about how people accused of sexual misconduct should be treated in the industry.
In a New York Times interview, "Lady Bird" writer and director Greta Gerwig said that she regretted working with Woody Allen, and credited his adopted daughter and sexual assault accuser, Dylan Farrow, for making her realize that she "increased another woman's pain." Gerwig appeared in 2012's "To Rome With Love" opposite Ellen Page and Jesse Eisenberg, and credits Allen as one of her inspirations as a writer and filmmaker.
In the interview, which also included writer and "Molly's Game" director Aaron Sorkin, Gerwig directly addressed her past work with Allen. When New York Times reporter Frank Burni asked Gerwig and Sorkin how sexual harassment and assault allegations should affect artists such as Kevin Spacey, Roman Polanski, and Allen, Gerwig said:
"I would like to speak specifically to the Woody Allen question, which I have been asked about a couple of times recently, as I worked for him on a film that came out in 2012. It is something that I take very seriously and have been thinking deeply about, and it has taken me time to gather my thoughts and say what I mean to say. I can only speak for myself and what I've come to is this: If I had known then what I know now, I would not have acted in the film. I have not worked for him again, and I will not work for him again. Dylan Farrow's two different pieces made me realize that I increased another woman's pain, and I was heartbroken by that realization. I grew up on his movies, and they have informed me as an artist, and I cannot change that fact now, but I can make different decisions moving forward."
Ellen Page, Gerwig's "To Rome With Love" costar, wrote in a November Facebook post that working with Allen was the "biggest regret" of her career.
Sorkin's response to Burni's question was that he didn't like seeing anyone "get disappeared" in Hollywood. And while Sorkin said he doesn't think Kevin Spacey - who has been accused of sexual harassment and assault against multiple men, including minors - will work in the industry again, Sorkin said he's "still rooting for a miraculous transformation."