Australian actor Jacqueline McKenzie has clarified comments made by Russell Crowe on Wednesday night at the Aacta awards, where he told what was perceived to be a tone deaf story about “sodomising” McKenzie on the set of 1992 film Romper Stomper.
McKenzie, who was nominated for an Aacta for her role in Don’t Tell, told Anna Broinowski for Guardian Australia: “[It was] absolutely not a #MeToo moment. It was awkward but dealt with as sensitively as possible, and we’ve joked about it for 25 years.”
On Thursday, McKenzie posted to Facebook that “there were no blurry lines” during that “awkward day’s filming” in 1991.
“Over the eons, he and I have often laughed at the awkwardness we felt shooting that scene. How we were trying to be as protective of our modesties as we could, as ‘sensitive’ to each other’s feelings as we could, but when the director called ‘action’, the scripted action was violent and explicit.
“We were both new to the industry at the time – it was my first film – and, yes, it was uncomfortable. For everyone. Scenes like that always are. Also for family and friends when they later watch the work on the big screen.
“The very important conversation of sexual harassment in the workplace bears no relevance to this. There were no blurry lines on that awkward day back in 1991. As there should never be ... The irony – what we actors are asked to do in scenes and how we actually film them – is what we laugh at. Then and now.”
Crowe told the story on stage at the Aacta awards, to a room filled with people from an industry that continues to reel from a deluge of allegations against powerful men. The moment was cut from Foxtel’s broadcast, but drew a mixture of laughter and cringes from the crowd.
“I was sodomising Jacqui McKenzie on the set of [1992 film] Romper Stomper,” Crowe began.
“I didn’t actually intend to do that – I was trying to keep my bits away from her bits, and she’s been given one of those pieces of elastic that the girls get when you do those scenes, which protects them from all things, and my bits and pieces were in a little canvas sack with a drawstring,” he said, to muted laughs.
“And it wasn’t [sic] actually my desire to keep the bits apart. It wasn’t until the opening night of the film that it was pointed out by none other than Jacqui McKenzie’s beautiful late mother that we were in fact, in her mind, engaged in sodomy. Anyway, that was just a story about sensitivity!”
Last week, McKenzie added her name to the list of women who have come forward about assault and harassment in the industry, posting to Facebook about “sexual harassment/groping private parts/grubby despicable behaviour/bullying behaviour” she had encountered during her early career.
“Was it ever funny? No, it’s never funny. Was it deeply deeply deeply stressful? You bet. Beyond,” she wrote. “Was it painful and did I feel safe at work? Yes – painful, No – not safe at work.”
McKenzie, who has had a long and acclaimed career on stage and screen, and features in the forthcoming TV remake of Romper Stomper, said she had reported the behaviour on two occasions. “It was a nightmare,” she said. “The people involved were protected, the behaviour was ignored/swept under the rug.”
In a subsequent post she said: “The only thing newsworthy [about my experience], in my opinion, is how anxious/frightened it still makes me feel. At my age. And that I’d managed to fully push it all away and forge friendships. It’s called survival ... The main thing for me is – moving forward – we need a better system of reporting/working through issues.”
