Actor Ian McKellen says actresses in the 1960s looking for work would write DRR (directors rights respected) on their headshots as a code that they would offer sex for a speaking role in the production.
Speaking at the Oxford Union on December 6, the 78-year-old actor, responded to a question regarding the Harvey Weinstein scandal. After refusing to comment in depth on allegations in Kevin Spacey, McKellen said he hoped “we are going through a period which will help to eradicate it [harassment] all together”.
He then shared a story from his early days in the theater that suggested women were as much to blame for the problem as men.
“From my own experience… when I was starting out in the early ’60s, the director of the theatre I was working at showed me some photographs he got from women who were wanting jobs, they were actors, some of them had at the bottom of their photograph DRR – directors’ rights respected. In other words, if you give me a job, you can have sex with me,” McKellen said.
“That was commonplace from people who proposed that they should be a victim. Madness. People have taken advantage of that and encouraged it and it absolutely will not do.”
McKellen said “people taking advantage of their power is utterly reprehensible anywhere it happens, within the family … in the workplace, doesn’t have to be the theatre, doesn’t have to be Hollywood, it could be the local shop. It could be parliament, wherever it happens, it won’t do. People must be called out, and it’s sometimes very difficult for victims to do that.”
However, he also called for honest to stop the number of false allegations. “I assume nothing but good will come out of these revelations, even though some people get wrongly accused – there’s that side of it as well. Honesty. Honesty. Honesty.”
You can watch the full video interview below:
