Washington [US], May 8 : Oscar-nominated actress Patricia Clarkson has recently opened up about a troubling encounter she had with former Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein, recounting a moment in which he vowed she would "never work again" following a dispute over her Academy Award nomination in the early 2000s.
Clarkson, who starred in the 2003 film 'The Station Agent' under Miramax's banner, explained that Weinstein attempted to categorise her performance as that of a Supporting Actress for the 76th Academy Awards, despite her role being that of a lead.
The actress resisted Weinstein's push and refused to enter the supporting category.
"I hate when actors put themselves in false categories. I think that's something that needs to be addressed by the Academy," Clarkson said in an interview, as per Deadline.
"When you are supporting, you should be truly a supporting player, and when you're the lead, you have to step up and go into a harder category. I was the lead in Station Agent, so I said, 'No, Harvey, I'm not going into supporting,'" she added.
The actress continued, explaining that, at the same time, she was nominated for Best Supporting Actress for her role in the United Artists film Pieces of April, where Katie Holmes was the clear lead.
Clarkson's stand against Weinstein led to an infamous confrontation in which the producer threatened her career.
"So I went up against Harvey, and he told me I'd never work again," Clarkson revealed, adding, "It got very ugly."
In the years following the incident, Harvey Weinstein's history of misconduct was revealed to the world, with over 80 women coming forward to accuse the producer of sexual harassment, assault, and rape.
While Clarkson's experience was nowhere near as harrowing as that of many other women, she acknowledged the trauma of the encounter, which is why she rarely speaks about it.
"This was patter to me, what I went through with Harvey. It was still difficult and terrible what he did to me, but compared to so many women who went through so much more, it was odd to talk about it," she said, as quoted by Deadline.
Patricia Clarkson's career trajectory took an interesting turn when she portrayed New York Times editor Rebecca Corbett in the 2022 film 'She Said', a drama based on the investigation that uncovered Weinstein's decades of abuse.
The actress admitted that her own experiences with the producer were a motivating factor in taking the role.
"Of course it was a motivation," she said, acknowledging that her past with Weinstein fueled her decision to portray Corbett in the film. Clarkson's role was a crucial part of the investigation that eventually brought Weinstein's actions to light.
In 2020, Weinstein was convicted of criminal sexual assault and rape in New York, receiving a sentence of 23 years in prison.
However, his convictions were overturned in 2022 due to "egregious errors" made by the judge, and a retrial began in April 2023.
Weinstein is currently incarcerated at Rikers Island.
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