Photo: Allen Berezovsky/WireImage
Ellen Barkinis opening up about her alleged mistreatment in Hollywood.
“I was never taken care of like this. Never,” said Barkin, who described the working environment on the murder mystery drama as “very safe.”
Barkin added that throughout her career, she faced a series of challenges that threatened her safety while on set. She alleged this included a “very difficult” scene from 1989’sSea of Lovewhere she was fully naked, with only an artificial covering known as a merkin covering her private parts.
“What was I going to do when Harold Becker onSea of Lovewalks over and literally rips my merkin off, taking some pubic hair with him and saying: ‘What do you need this for? Nobody’s looking at you,'” Barkin toldHuffPostabout her alleged mistreatment on the set.
Ellen Barkin.Paul Zimmerman/Getty Images for TNT
“The producer said in front of me, ‘She looks like a girl who could give you a disease,'” Barkin toldHuffPost.
This attitude led her into being “typecast first as the ugly girlfriend,” added Barkin, who cited a “cringey” 1993New York Timesarticle toHuffPostthat ascribed her lack of Hollywood “It Girl” success to her being “difficult” on set and having “an attitude problem.”
“I went right into the voracious sex symbol, and then I went to mean old lady. So it makes perfect sense — man’s view of me,” Barkin added.
Once she was cast as “the object of desire,” Barkin said, “all the good parts went out the window.”
Despite this, theOceans 13star toldHuffPostthat she still believed she had “an easy time” compared to other actresses. After years of playing roles she didn’t enjoy,Poker Facealso reignited her excitement for acting.
Universal/Courtesy Everett Collection
“I haven’t felt that way since doingOcean’swith my friendGeorge Clooney, because I knew nothing was going to happen to me bad,” she toldHuffPost. “You just go into the safest environment.”
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Now, Barkin is keen to find more television opportunities that mimic the atmosphere of comfort and safety.
“I could live without the domineering,” she added. “I could deal without all those men.”
source: people.com
