in front of the crew on the set of ”I Heart Huckabees.” A woman who looked like a gaffer cowered on the floor in a squat position. Russell threw items off a desk and she shielded her face with her hands to avoid being hit. No one in the video asked if she was OK, or attempted to stop his tirade.
When I returned to my 12′x12′ studio apartment on New York City’s Upper West Side, I buried myself in my blankets on my blow-up mattress. I felt humiliated and powerless. All I had wanted, as a semi-broke 20-something, was a steady job and to be treated fairly. “A crew guy asked if I was in a gang,” she told me. “Then he told me to go get him some fried chicken.”The author practicing her violin at Silvercup Studios in New York City during a break from filming"Sex and the City."
Over the years, especially as the Me Too movement gained traction, I thought of speaking out about what I’d experienced, but I told myself that none of it compared to what other women in the industry have been through. So I remained silent and faded into the shadows, leaving my stand-in days ― and the harassment I experienced during them ― in the past.The author with the stars of"Sex and the City" and their respective stand-ins.
It also reminds me that I’m not alone. Too many professionals in the film industry have dealt with harassment and abuse, and more and more of them are now