Several members of Francis Ford Coppola’s Cannes-bound Megalopolis crew have alleged that the veteran filmmaker attempted to “kiss some of the topless female extras” and make the crew wait for hours without filming. The accusations, reported by The Guardian newspaper, come days before the film, starring Adam Driver, receives its world premiere in the current cannes film festival in the Competition segment.
Multiple sources told the publication that Coppola, best known for The Godfather trilogy and Apocalypse Now (1979), was “old school” in his behavior toward women. He “he supposedly pulled women to sit on his lap. During the filming of a bacchanal scene in a nightclub, witnesses say Coppola entered the set and attempted to kiss some of the topless and scantily clad female extras. “He apparently claimed that he was ‘trying to get them in the mood,'” the report reads.
These accusations were refuted by Darren Demetre, co-executive producer of Megalopolis, Coppola’s self-financed passion project. He told the UK-based publication that the filmmaker, 84, gave “hugs and kisses” to the cast and background actors, but no one ever complained to him about it.
“There were two days when we filmed a celebration scene in a Studio 54-style club, where Francis walked around the set to establish the spirit of the scene giving friendly hugs and kisses on the cheek to the cast and background actors. It was his way of helping to inspire and establish the atmosphere of the club, which was so important to the film. I was never aware of any complaints of harassment or bad behavior during the course of the project,” Demetre said.
Regarding accusations of mismanagement, Demetre, who has worked with the filmmaker for 35 years, said Coppola “successfully” put together a big-budget independent film like Megalopolis. Mike Figgis, one of Coppola’s longtime friends, said the director assembled a “huge team.” He “would get up every morning taking notes on the way to the set, or discuss his ideas with Roman, his son. And at the end of the day, he is also the producer, so he is thinking about his interest rate.”
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