Whenever Woody Allen has a new project that is about to be released, the filmmaker doesn’t shy away from doing interviews, even though he understands that each and every discussion will inevitably come back to the one thing everybody wants to talk about—the sexual assault allegations. This is something that Allen is well aware of, as he explained in a new interview with the Guardian, and he’s perfectly fine with talking about it, even if it makes him seem defensive.
Speaking in the interview, the acclaimed filmmaker was asked, once again, about the allegations that have been around for decades (and taken to court) against Allen that state he sexually assaulted Dylan Farrow when she was only a child. And though he’s talked about the issue, at length, many times before, Allen understands why he’s always asked about them.
“I assume that for the rest of my life a large number of people will think I was a predator,” he said. “Anything I say sounds self-serving and defensive, so it’s best if I just go my way and work.”
Of course, with the rise of the #MeToo movement over the last few years, Allen’s past has come back to haunt him once more, with Dylan Farrow and her brother Ronan making more headlines about the allegations. This has led to Hollywood backlash, with studios and distributors not wanting to work with Allen any longer and actors who previously starred in his films publicly denouncing the filmmaker. And as far as the latter people go, Allen thinks he knows why actors are uniting against him, but he doesn’t think their stand is as sincere as they would have you believe.
“It’s silly,” Allen said. “The actors have no idea of the facts and they latch on to some self-serving, public, safe position. Who in the world is not against child molestation? That’s how actors and actresses are, and [denouncing me] became the fashionable thing to do, like everybody suddenly eating kale.”
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So far, a number of actors have publicly said they wouldn’t work with the filmmaker again, including Timothee Chalamet, Rebecca Hall, Michael Caine, and more. Of course, the filmmaker is still making movies, so he is having no issues finding folks who are willing to star.
His newest feature, “A Rainy Day in New York” is arriving in the UK next month and has yet to land US distribution.