Women: Vincent Gallo Was Disturbing in Auditions

It 'was looking to me like a recipe for sexual misconduct on set,' one woman says
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Jan 12, 2024 11:35 AM CST
Women: Vincent Gallo Was Disturbing in Auditions
Vincent Gallo looks on during a press conference in Buenos Aires.   (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)

The SAG-AFTRA union is investigating allegations that Vincent Gallo made explicit and disturbing remarks to women auditioning to play victims of the Golden State Killer. Gallo, who plays serial killer and rapist ex-cop Joseph DeAngelo in The Policeman, allegedly told the women he wanted them to feel completely dominated by him and experience real fear, according to complaints seen by Rolling Stone. "If I say to suck my d--- or I will kill you, I want you, you the person, not you the character, not you the actor, but you, to truly believe you will die if you don't do as I say," the 62-year-old actor allegedly told one woman for whom Rolling Stone uses the pseudonym "Emily."

Another woman, "Jane," said Gallo discussed his "torture porn fantasies" with her when she showed up for the callback audition, describing numerous scenarios without mentioning an intimacy coordinator. She said he told her he planned to create a "fully improvised" environment on set, warning her: "I may ask you to get nude at any time, and I need an actress who is going to do it, because that's what the victim would've done to stay alive." She said he told her that if she took the role, there would be "zero negotiations about what was being done to me on set" and she would be fired if she did not "give blanket consent." A third woman, "Leslie," said she didn't show up for her callback audition after hearing about other women's experiences.

Emily said Gallo told her, "We don't want to see you act, we don't want to see you pretend. DeAngelo hates acting. DeAngelo hates actors. DeAngelo hates liars." Emily and Jane said director Jordan Gertner and a casting director were present but did not object to any of Gallo's remarks. Emily said she gave her agent a list of boundaries that she would require to accept the role—and it was later implied that the "reason I did not receive a formal offer for this role was my list of boundaries."

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The union confirmed to Variety that it is investigating the complaints. It said it is committed to "ensuring a safe and respectful environment on set." A source tells Rolling Stone that due to the complaints, an extra union rep was on set during filming last month. Emily and Jane say they are speaking out because they don't want other women to have the same experience. "I never felt truly protected from all of this, from what frankly was looking to me like a recipe for sexual misconduct on set," Emily tells Rolling Stone. "I was like, 'This is the storm that is brewing right now and I don't feel like I am being protected from it.'" (More Vincent Gallo stories.)

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