'Okay, can you take your top off now?'
It turns out Entourage was just as scummy behind the scenes as it was onscreen. Mad Men actress Alison Brie reminisced about how she had once auditioned for a small role on the sitcom and had been promptly asked to strip for the panel.
Following a screening of her 80s-inspired series GLOW in Texas, the topic of Hollywood sexism then and now came up. According to E! News, Alison revealed, ‘It has not changed that much. The audition process has not changed that much.’
The star of Community then revealed she had read for a three-line part on Entourage, which revolves around a movie star, his male posse and their romantic exploits in Hollywood.
She elaborated, ‘Early in my career, I auditioned for three lines on an episode of Entourage that I had to go on in a bikini. Or like shorts and the tiniest shorts. And they were like, ‘Okay, can you take your top off now?’
People were rightly furious, including three time Emmy-award winning casting director Jen Euston who sounded off in a tweet. Jen, who has previously cast shows such as Girls, Orange is the New Black and more recently GLOW, criticised the professionals who should have done more to prevent the experience.
She responded to a tweet about how unbelievable the experience was with her own, saying, ‘makes me sick there are producers who abuse their power & if there was a Casting Director present, they did nothing? Inexcusable.’
Alison has since come forwards to clarify that she was not asked to go completely topless, but that she had been wearing a bikini top underneath her shirt.
She explained, ‘They didn’t ask me to get totally topless. Sorry to disappoint you!’
Still, it’s not great. Her fellow GLOW costar Betty Gilpin also shared her own experience, where she auditioned for a panel of men. After she completed her scene, she was then asked to take down her hair.
Despite their terrible experiences, we’re excited to see the ladies kicking butt on the new Netflix original show. GLOW is made by the same team behind Orange is the New Black and features a heavily female cast, which we’re 100% here for. Revolving around Alison’s character, an aspiring actress, it follows her accidental foray into 80s female wrestling and the group Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling.
While the show looks to be a refreshing breath of air amidst male-led series, Alison also pointed out that great female roles were still hard to come by in Hollywood.
‘I’ve gone through auditions for Marvel movies and auditioned a million times for roles with three lines and you are begging for them. And I’d be glad to get them! It’s brutal, it just is,' she said.
GLOW will be available on Netflix from June 23.
