Actress, author, and podcast host Anna Faris is the latest star to come forward with a story about her experiences with sexual harassment in Hollywood.
On the newest episode of her Unqualified podcast, Faris revealed her own uncomfortable encounter with a director on a movie set.
“I was doing a scene where I was on a ladder and I was supposed to be taking books off a shelf and he slapped my ass in front of the crew so hard,” said the Mom star. “And all I could do was giggle.”
Faris added, “I remember looking around and I remember seeing the crew members being like, ‘Wait, what are you going to do about that? That seemed weird.’ And that’s how I dismissed it. I was like, ‘Well, this isn’t a thing. Like, it’s not that big of a deal. Buck up, Faris. Like, just giggle.’ But it made me feel small. He wouldn’t have done that to the lead male.”
Faris was joined by guest Arielle Kebbel (UnREAL, Ballers) to discuss the growing issues of sexual harassment and abuse in the workplace and how men can help fix the problems.
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“We’re conditioned to giggle,” says Faris. “But also, if we were to do anything else, we’d be labeled a bitch or difficult. That would be the best of circumstances. I guess what I do is I laugh. It puts everyone at ease. That’s the defense mode you go into.”
Faris, whose book, Unqualified, is out today, later brought the conversation back to her uncomfortable on-set experience. This time revealing how she purportedly landed the role.
“I remember that same director telling my agent, who told me, that I had great legs and that was one of the reasons that I got hired,” she recalled. “And listen, that’s a f—ing great compliment. I like my legs. But that sort of informed my whole experience with that whole project. I don’t think the male lead got hired because he had great legs. Therefore I felt like I’m hired because of these elements — not because of [talent].”
Faris’ comments arrive in the wake of women speaking out in light of the sexual misconduct allegations against disgraced Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein. In the wake of the Weinstein scandal, numerous other men in Hollywood have been accused of sexual misconduct, including director James Toback and Nickelodeon producer Chris Savino.
This article originally appeared on ew.com.