From his jail cell at Rikers Island on Sunday, Harvey Weinstein insisted that the dancing scene in “Down to You” that made Julia Stiles feel “slimy” made 2000 rom-com better.
Weinstein, who produced the film, said that having Stiles’ character dance around a pool table was to “enhance the film’s appeal.”
“I felt so slimy doing it the whole time,” Stiles told Brett Goldstein on his “Films to Be Buried With” podcast last week while discussing her experience making the film. “It was annoying. Because I was like, ‘Well, this is so cheap, and it’s not adding to the story.’”
In a statement shared to media via his spokesperson, Weinstein said, “Julia Stiles is a talented and charismatic actress who naturally connects with audiences. Beyond her acting skills, she’s also a fantastic dancer, which was something fans really wanted at the time.”
He added, “I included that scene in ‘Down to You’ to enhance the film’s appeal, and her chemistry with Freddie Prinze Jr. made it work seamlessly.”
Weinstein then reflected on his wider work as a producer.
“As a filmmaker, I’ve always sought ways to elevate a project, and when I see an opportunity to make a film better, I take it,” he said. “That same instinct led David O. Russell and me to cast Julia in ‘Silver Linings Playbook,’ where she once again delivered a standout performance.”
Stiles said that the script of “Down to You” was “very good” until “Harvey Weinstein got his hands on it.”
The actress told EW in 2019 that Weinstein took the film from being “a lot darker” and “really mature” and turned it into a “commercial, upbeat romantic comedy.”
Weinstein is currently in prison after being found guilty on three counts of rape and sexual assault in a 2022 Los Angeles trial. His 2020 conviction for rape in New York was overturned last year by the state’s court of appeals. A retrial is pending.
DailyBeast was first to report the news.
