The 53-year-old actress also opened up about the stories she heard about Harvey Weinstein long before the scandal broke last fall.
Sandra Bullock is getting candid.
The 53-year-old actress opens up about her past experience with sexual harassment in a new interview with The Sunday Times, claiming that she found herself in an uncomfortable situation with a "person of authority early" on in her film career. According to Bullock, she tried to deflect with humor before asking the person to fire her.
"It was a lesson," says the Oscar winner, who didn't name the film or person involved. "After that, I tended to remove anything that could be misconstrued as sexual. I locked it down."
The mother of two also discusses the Harvey Weinstein scandal, admitting that while she never worked with the former movie mogul, she was "really, really scared" for the "brave" women who came forward to accuse him of sexual misconduct. Weinstein has denied any allegations of non-consensual sex.
"I was like, 'Oh my God, this is amazing, but f**k, f**k, f**k, what if it doesn't work?" she recalls thinking. "Please God, let it not swing the other way.' We're in such uncharted territory right now. I've seen a lot of fear and a lot of men of a certain generation not understanding."
Bullock says she "heard" rumors about Weinstein long before the exposes about his behavior were published last fall, and describes hearing stories accusing women of sleeping with him for parts. "I was afraid of him," she says. "I wasn't asked to be in that world. I learnt early on to shut things off so those things didn't come my way."
"I only heard what Harvey wanted people to hear, and that made me so f**king angry. People would say, 'Well, you know how she got that role? She f**ked Harvey.' I would say, 'Shut the f**k up. You don't know that,'" she shares. "Then, later, to find out that woman was brutally attacked...They didn't sleep with Harvey. Harvey wanted you to think that."
Bullock, who donated $500,000 to the Time's Up initiative, was working on her upcoming thriller, Bird Box, when the Weinstein scandal broke, and says she noticed a difference in the attitude on set. "I saw a tremendous amount of fear from men on set," she remembers. "In the end, I said, 'I know you're scared, but I feel safe, so you can make some jokes now. But if you cross the line, I will f**k you up."
The actress opened up more about her own #MeToo experience last month.
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