Debra Messing has revealed how a director bullied her into doing a nude scene in the 1995 film A Walk in the Clouds after telling her that her nose was ruining his movie.
The 48-year-old actress was speaking at the 2017 Makers Conference earlier this week when she recalled working on her first Hollywood film, which she starred opposite Keanu Reeves. Debra said she was 25, and it was her second day on set when she learned there was a nude scene for her to do — even though she was initially told there wouldn't be.
When Debra approached the film's director, Alfonso Arau, about her discomfort with the scene, he became incensed and allegedly told her: 'Your job is to get naked and say lines. That's it.'
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Coming clean: Debra Messing detailed how director Alfonso Arau pressured her into doing a nude scene in the film A Walk in the Clouds while speaking at the 2017 Makers Conference
Say what? Debra, who is pictured in the film, explained that she was initially told there wouldn't be any nudity. However, her second day on set she learned that she was expected to do one
Debra went on to say that he yelled at her to get out of the room after telling her that she 'should be grateful to have this part'.
The Will & Grace star said she was so torn up about the situation that she went to producers and asked them why she was told there wouldn't be a nude scene.
However, they simply replied that they had promised no nudity in the domestic release, but not the international release.
After her agents told her that she could either say no and be fired or do it and keep the role, Debra ended up agreeing to do it, but the humiliation didn't end there.
In the scene, Keanu's character is supposed to find her in bed with another man, and according to Debra, the director wanted to 'set the sheet' when she laid down.
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Stars on set: Debra was 25 when she starred alongside Keanu Reeves (pictured on set) in the 1995 romantic drama
When Debra went to the director to talk about filming the scene in question, she claimed he told her: 'Your job is to get naked and say lines. That's it'
'He lifts it, scans my naked body, then drops the sheet on top of me like a used Kleenex. He walks away without a word,' she recalled.
She went on to note that he told her to cover her nipple and 'a**' when she was filming other scenes.
'It turns out, after all this trauma, the only part of my body that is seen naked in the film is my back,” she said.
'The whole thing was a power play, a game. And the goal, to demean me, to strip me of my power and make me feel on a cellular level his dominance over me.'
Debra said that after she told her agents she would 'never work with that a**hole' again'.
The star also opened up about Alfonso telling her she needed plastic surgery while she was filming a love scene with Keanu for the movie.
His side: Alfonso (pictured) denied Debra's claims and said that she was never nude in the scene in question
Years ago: In the film, Keanu played a returning WWII soldier who falls in love with a young student while he is still married to Debra's character
'I was doing a love scene with Keanu Reeves,' she said. 'We started filming and the very famous director screamed "Cut" and said, "How quickly can we get a plastic surgeon in here? Her nose is ruining my movie."'
Remembering the incident more than 20 years later, Debra described feeling 'shock' over his words, having earned a master's degree in acting and working hard on her career to get where she was, only to be 'reduced to an un-Hollywood nose.'
Debra told the audience that revealing the story for the first time was 'a big deal' for her, adding: 'I feel proud that I have to come to where I am now and that I can share the difficulties that I had to grapple with. I'm still standing.'
However, she noted that Alfonso's comment about her nose had lasting effects on her, saying it's taken her 'years and years and years' to learn to love her unique differences.
Luckily, the incident didn't deter her from achieving her goals. She went on to star in eight seasons of the wildly successful sitcom Will & Grace, which is soon to be rebooted.
Too much: Debra, who is pictured in 1996, said that after she endured a series of humiliations the alleged nude scene ended up on the cutting room floor
With grace: Debra also revealed for the first time that the director also told her she needed a nose job
No looking back: 'I have a strong nose, I have small breasts. I'm a f***ing original,' Debra said at the end of her speech
Soon after the show's run, she bumped into Alfonso in the street. 'Bella! It's been so long, you were so funny in the movie,' he said. 'I'm so happy to see you again!'
Debra told the audience: 'I said, "Thank you," and I turned around and never looked back.'
She closed her comments with the self-affirming words: 'I have a strong nose, I have small breasts. I'm a f***ing original.'
Alfonso's rep told Too Fab that Debra's claims are 'false' and 'inaccurate' and went on to say that the director never said anything derogatory about her nose.
The rep also claimed that Debra was never nude while shooting the scene in question and noted that it ended up being cut because a female Fox executive took issue with it.
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