'Megalopolis' extra says Francis Ford Coppola did not act inappropriately on set (original) (raw)

A Megalopolis extra is refuting claims that Francis Ford Coppola acted inappropriately during filming less than a week after Variety published an exposé about the filmmaker’s behavior on set.

The outlet’s report cited an anonymous source who stated that Coppola kept “leaping up to hug and kiss several women” while shooting a nightclub sequence for the film and later got on a microphone to tell "everyone in the room, ‘Sorry, if I come up to you and kiss you. Just know it’s solely for my pleasure.’” In their article, Variety published two videos taken by an unnamed cast member that appear to show Coppola mingling on set.

However, Rayna Menz, who has claimed that she is featured in one of the videos published by the outlet, has denied that Coppola did anything wrong on set in an Instagram Story on Tuesday. “A video involving me has been released with a misleading headline,” she wrote. “None of the claims about @francisfordcoppola are true; it was an honor to work with such a legend.”

Rayna Menz's Instagram Story.

Reyn Menz/instagram

Menz continued, “This video was taken on a CLOSED set that prohibited self phones specifically for the safety of all the actors. I am disgusted by these allegations & hope everybody will see the truth for what it is.”

Entertainment Weekly has reached out to representatives for Menz and Coppola, but did not immediately hear back.

_Variety_’s reporting comes two months after The Guardian claimed that Coppola “tried to kiss some of the topless and scantily clad female extras” in a nightclub scene, with one unnamed source telling the U.K. outlet that he did it to try and “get them in the mood.”

Menz told Deadline that Coppola “did nothing to make me or for that matter anyone on set feel uncomfortable.” She added, “That someone had video of that is just ridiculous and super unprofessional. It’s gross because he only ever spoke about how wonderful his wife [the late Eleanor Coppola] is. His wife was on set with us, most days. It feels gross, seeing that video and they way they were trying to convey a message. Just gross.”

Adam Driver in first look at Francis Ford Coppola's 'Megalopolis'.

American Zoetrope

She completely rebuked the claims surrounding the video, calling them "all false" and sharing that se was the one who asked Coppola to dance with her. “He even said, something along the lines of — mind you it was over a year ago so this is not a proper quote — but he said something like, ‘I’m a gentleman, and I would never say no to a lady,'" she recalled. "And then we waltzed, to club music.”

Menz concluded, “[Coppola] was nothing but professional, a gentleman, he was like this cute Italian grandfather, running around the set. It was just so much fun. He’s a nice, generous person.”

Set in a reimagined version of the U.S., Megalopolis follows visionary architect Cesar Catalina (Adam Driver) as he goes toe-to-toe with corrupt mayor Franklin Cicero (Giancarlo Esposito) over how to rebuild the bustling city New Rome after a major disaster. The epic — which also stars Nathalie Emmanuel, Aubrey Plaza, Shia LaBeouf, Jon Voight, and Laurence Fishburne — is set to be released in theaters on Sept. 27.